Killer
by Theaterlover13
Summary: Niff! Jeff never meant to make the call. It wasn't his fault, but when he meets Nick, a jock across the country, he needs to find a way to fight for this new boy, all the while trying to fight against who he is. T for coarse language and some violence. Vampire!Jeff. Niff. Also some Klaine and Thadbastian.
1. Chapter 1

**HEY GUYS! :D **

**Theaterlover here. **

**My name for this story, (if you didn't know, it changes with every story) is Nami. That's what my friend calls me, even though that's not actually my name… whatever. I like it. **

**Anyways, I've been writing this one FOREVER and I never really got around to posting, and when I copy pasted it to a word document, it was 98 pages! :O Ridiculous. I should have posted a while ago. **

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! I do not own any character from Glee or anywhere else. I do not own anything mentioned. **

**Enjoy! :)**

Summary- Niff! Jeff never meant to make the call. It wasn't his fault, but when he meets Nick, a jock across the country, he needs to find a way to fight for this new boy, all the while trying to fight against who he is. Vampire!Jeff

**Prologue. **

You never understand how much you don't see.

The boy's hands drifted over the desk, his fingernails hardly touching the wood. His eyes tracked his own fingers as they followed the lines in the grain. Flashbacks of the blonde boy played over and over in his mind, words ringing in his ears, trapped by the large headphones still pressed on his head, and seeming somehow to echo through the room. His focal point changed as his computer went to screensaver, causing his eyes to flick up and lock on the screen. The music from the screensaver suddenly blasted in his headphones, and he jumped three feet in the air, smacking at the headphones and falling to the floor.

When he settled, he was on his back, the headphones swinging by their cord, slowly back and forth above him. Seemingly fascinated, his eyes followed them back and forth. If someone had walked into the room, he would have seemed hypnotized. But he snapped out of it.

"What's wrong with you?" He scolded himself in a quiet voice, sitting up abruptly and promptly smashing his face into the headphones, and then the desk. This really wasn't going well for the boy. He rubbed his face and stood up, stumbling to the bathroom.

He stared at his face in the mirror, and sighed. There was something different about this blonde, and he knew it. He knew that he wasn't normal. That he was something different. The blonde had a secret. And this boy was going find out what.

**Chapter 1**

_Jeff POV_

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I could smell my mom in the other room. She was sitting alone at the table, her blood pulsing under her skin, her tears streaking down her face. They fell onto the hardwood table, making little splashes that I'm sure even she couldn't hear. I could imagine the tiny waves they would make in her cup of coffee.

Mom never wanted us to know how much she cried. And of course, my sister never knew. I heard Meghan shift on her bed, flipping a page of her magazine. Secondhand Serenade blasted through her earbuds. I could hear it loud and clear. Did she need to listen to it so loud?

My mom cleared her face and blew her nose. I listened as the chair scraped back, her footsteps echoing softly through the house as she headed for the bathroom, leaving the coffee on the table. I could smell it, steaming on the table, and I could imagine the steam curling up through the air, dissolving and spreading towards the ceiling. My pale fingers tapped against the table. The sound echoed in my head. I swallowed and wished for everyone to sleep already so I could hunt.

I turned my eyes to the computer, pulling on my headphones. I flipped down the microphone, pulling up Skype. My eyes tracked the mouse as if it were my victim as it slid across the screen. I went to my friends, and after remembering that I had none, I typed in a random name and stared at it for a while.

_Nila2784. _

Normally I never hit send. I would look at the name for a while, wondering if I should, wondering if it would lead to anything. I had only hit send twice, and once it wasn't a real number and the other time when the girl answered she screamed and hung up. If I had been her, I probably would have done the same thing.

I absentmindedly tapped my fingers against the desk again, staring at the name. Nila2784. My hunger distracted me as I turned towards the window. I closed my eyes and let my senses find a victim in the city.

Yes, I was different. I wasn't normal, as you can probably tell. I was a vampire. I was a bloodsucker. A leech. Scum. Not natural. But due to this curse, I had a gift. My senses could basically leave my body, move around and see and smell and hear things for me. Like I was there. But then I wasn't with my body and it left me quite unprotected.

I tried not to be a monster, though. I tried to only kill the bad people. I tried to stay a good person. Or, as good as I could, with this awful burden.

I found my victim. There... He was standing by a bar, watching two girls laugh and walk down the street. I could smell his lust. I could tell what he wanted to do.

I was at the door of my room in a flash, my head out in the hall.

"Mom!"

I waited and listened as she jumped in the bathroom, her comb falling to the floor and her elbow slamming into the towel rack, making me wince. Something rolled towards the edge of the counter, and I heard it fall and plummet towards the floor, but she swiped at it and managed to catch it.

"Nice save," I whispered so she couldn't hear me.

"Yeah? What is it, Jeff?" She called back, leaning on the counter, the bottle of make-up, mascara, I assumed, by the smell, still in her fist. Her eyes closed and her head drooped.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight!" My throat burned. I needed to feed, now. I needed to go. I needed to save the two girls.

"Goodnight!" she called back, her head coming up a bit, just enough to call, and then falling back down.

I ignored the painful sympathy, closed my door, and was instantly at my window. I slid it open quietly and moved silently across the lawn. I heard the man start towards the two girls, who were still unaware of his presence, and I shot down an alley, trying to get there in time.

I almost didn't make it. I dropped off of the wall into the alley just as the man grabbed the first girl. The other girl turned and gasped, but I covered her mouth before she could scream. I didn't want to call attention. Not if I was going to kill him. "Shhh," I whispered in her ear, and I let her go.

"Don't hurt me," the girl in the man's arms cried.

The man laughed. "Don't struggle, then."

Before he could do anything, I stepped into the light and he noticed me and lowered his eyebrows.

"What are you doing, skinny?" he said in a gravelly voice.

My anger bubbled below the surface of my skin and I ran my tongue over my teeth. My canines were sharp. Not sharp enough for people to notice, but sharp enough to cut through things. Like this man's skin. As I thought about his blood, saw it beating underneath his thin skin, saw his pulse in his neck, heard his heartbeat, loud and wet and appealing, I felt my teeth become slippery as my venom released, ready to kill the man.

I swallowed the fire in my throat. I couldn't kill him until the girls were gone. I didn't want to have to kill them, too. Because if they saw me feeding, they could tell people. I needed to remain a secret.

I stepped forward. "Let go of the girl," I growled menacingly.

"A skinny kid like you isn't going to do anything to me." his teeth flashed as he laughed. I could smell the cigarette smoke and alcohol on his breath. _Gross._

I closed the gap between us and clamped my hand down on his wrist. It snapped beneath my grasp, and he cried out in agony and released the girl. She scrambled over to her friend, and I wrapped my hand around the man's neck, driving him against the wall. His hands scraped uselessly against my hand as his eyes bugged.

I turned to the girls. "Go," I said softly, and they ran, not looking back. They smelled much nicer than the man. I almost followed, but I stopped myself. Those girls were innocent. This man wasn't.

"Don't hurt me," the man choked out, tears falling down his face.

"Don't struggle, then." I quoted him, and I glanced to make sure that the girls were gone before leaning forward and sinking my teeth into his soft neck. He tried to scream, but he only gurgled as I released him and let him fall to the ground. His blood was unclean, poisoned by drugs and alcohol, but it was better then being hungry. I crouched over him and began to suck the blood out through his neck, and his hands beat at me, gradually slowing and eventually stopping altogether. When he went dry, I stood and wiped my mouth off, disgusted. I hated being this way. I hated having to do this. People always looked so... Awful when they were dead and bloodless. Pale, waxy, eyes bulging, most of the time their hands curled and their mouths still open in an unheard cry for help. I ignored my feelings and pulled his body onto my back and took him to the bay, where I threw his body out and watched it sink.

This was my normal routine, every third day, because that's usually as long as I could go without feeding. I ran home, slipping silently through my window and sitting back at my desk. The seat was cold.

I paused. My mom was in her bed, her breathing even. I could still smell the coffee on the table, now cold, my mom's tears next to it, drying on the wood. My sister had fallen asleep with her headphones in, Secondhand Serenade still playing. I was surprised that it didn't wake her up. Her light buzzed, she had left it on.

I sighed. Was every family like this? We were so split apart, so distant all the time. I supposed part of it was my fault. Since I was like this I had to lie a lot, so I began to cut myself off from them. It had only been a year, a year of this crap, a year of this high school where no one figured it out. And if I could keep it that way, I could move to 'college' and maybe fake my death and then move to New York or Miami or something. Nowhere even in the same state as my family. Not even on the same coast. I didn't have it completely planned out; I didn't really know what to do. I was still that scared little boy that got changed and couldn't tell his mom. I was still that boy who had to figure it out all by himself.

"Hey! Kid! Hey!" I jumped, realizing that my senses were again outside in the city. I located the sound to be coming from the headphones, and I yanked them on and looked at the screen.

"You okay?" the boy asked.

He was smiling, amused at my spacey-ness. He had long brown hair, swept a bit to the side. His eyes were brown, his smile warm. He was wearing his headphones and mic under the hood of his grey jacket, which hung open over his black shirt. The room behind him was dark, but I could see that there was a bed, a poster for the New York Yankees and a poster for New York University, a bookshelf with a bunch of classic books on it, like To Kill a Mockingbird and All Quiet on the Western Front and some biographies of people like Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler and Abraham Lincoln. A closet door was cracked open, showing just a couple pairs of jeans, and a letterman jacket. A hamper and a basket sat next to the door. A nightstand next to his bed had a clock on it that read 3:17. I checked my own clock, and saw 12:17. Three hours ahead... That must mean that he was on the east coast.

It took me a half second to take in all of this, and I regained my posture. "Sorry, I didn't realize I hit call," I said, pulling on my headphones.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"No, I must have typed the wrong number." I lied. It was too weird to tell him the truth.

He chuckled. "Well, I'm Nick. You are?"

It was weird to have someone seem interested in knowing me. I was a background character. A lethal background character. Fun.

"I'm Jeff."

"Well, I'm not doing anything right now. If you don't care, I would be fine with talking for a while." he told me, leaning back in his chair and intertwining his fingers on his stomach.

"Sure, that sounds fine." I responded. He seemed really nice. It was weird to talk to someone my own age. Someone that wasn't my mom or my sister.

"Well, for starters, where are you? In Cali, I'm guessing? Your accent shows it."

"Yeah." I said back. "San Francisco. You're on the East Coast?"

"New York. How'd you know? I thought I was good at hiding the accent." He laughed. His teeth were very white and straight.

"The clock," I told him. "You're three hours ahead. How late are you planning on staying up?" I laughed with him.

"I can sleep in class," he chuckled.

"Not worried about your grades?" I asked him. My mind switched tracks on deciding what kind of person he was.

"Nah. I'm only worried about football practice."

So he was a jock. I could see his muscles. _Of course he was. _

"How about you? You play sports?"

_Only if I want to kill people,_ I thought. "Nah. Not really."

"You a nerd? Study a lot?"

"Not really." I never studied. Like at all. I didn't even need to pay attention to ace the tests at my school. Side effect of being a vampire, my brain catalogues everything, even if I'm hardly paying attention.

"Theater geek?" he was trying to pin a stereotype to me. But I guess I didn't have a look like a certain type of person.

"Nope." I was kind of having fun with this. He was struggling.

"Ummmm... Art kid." he was sure he had got it, and I felt bad. Because I did like to draw, but I wasn't an art kid. So, for reasons that I couldn't really explain, I nodded.

"You got it."

"Ooh! Can you show me something you've drawn?" He grinned wide.

I smiled at his crazy happiness. He was very enthusiastic, with his puppy dog face and grin. I could imagine him with big floppy ears. "Sure, one second."

I pulled off my headphones and crossed the room, looking for a drawing. It was weird, but I wanted to show him my best drawing. I wanted it to make him smile.

Unfortunately, most of my drawings were sickening, things that I had seen, quite a few dead people, and a bunch of the monster that I saw in the mirror.

I finally found one that was okay, a drawing of a boy who was not me, but he was a metaphor for me, (luckily nick wouldn't know) and he was standing, looking in the mirror. His reflection wasn't him, it was a big, shadowy demon with sharp teeth and it was pressing on the mirror, like it was trying to get out.

"Here's one of my best ones," I told Nick, sitting down and holding up the picture.

He studied it for a minute, and then said, "Wow, Jeff. It's amazing. Who is the boy a metaphor for?" He looked up at me, taking me by surprise. He was intuitive. He was expecting me to say that it was me. I could see it in his eyes.

"It's a boy from a book that I read." I lied quickly.

He brightened considerably. "Oh! What book?"

"Um... Nico from Percy Jackson and the Olympians?"

"That sounded like a question." he laughed.

"Have you heard of it?" I could see it on his shelf, all of the spines worn down. _Of course he had-_

"Of course I have." He spoke, interrupting my thoughts. "That's an amazing series. One of my favorites."

I chuckled.

"Don't laugh at me. I'm a completely normal seventeen year old." he scolded me, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

We talked for a long time. We talked and talked and talked until his clock hit six thirty and his alarm went off. He was in the middle of explaining the house that he grew up in, and he jumped and spun around to look at the clock while I just froze.

"Oh..." he mumbled. "Wow, we talked for a long time. I lost track of time."

_I didn't._ I thought. _Oh well. It's a gift..._ "Oh... You gotta go to school?" I still had three hours before I had to start to get ready.

"Yeah, I do. Maybe I'll call you later?"

I smiled. _He wants to talk to me again? Nobody ever wants to..._ "Sure! But remember I get out of school three hours later than you do."

His teeth flashed as he smiled. "Right. I'll see you later, Jeff."

"Bye, Nick."

The screen went dark as he ended the call, and I sighed. Dust flew off the top of the monitor and I watched as it drifted in the wake of my breath.

I sat there for a long time, until the clock hit four and I decided to sleep. I climbed in bed and closed my eyes, allowing sleep to overtake me.

"Jeff!" my mom called. "Your alarm went off a half hour ago! Get out of bed!"

I opened my eyes to the same old peeling ceiling. Outside I could hear a raccoon rooting through our garbage, breathing heavily. My sister was sitting on her bed, staring at the wall. I could practically taste her regret. She was wishing she had gone to sleep earlier. My mom was sitting on the couch, a cup of steaming tea in her hands, the coffee from the night before cleaned up, the dishes from the previous day clean and smelling like soap in the cabinets above the sink. I could smell fresh French toast on my mom's breath and in the fridge as well. The bathroom smelled like her shampoo.

I shook my head, trying to clear the rush to my senses. It happened every morning, probably due to the lack of senses that I had every time I slept. Sometimes I just didn't sleep. I didn't really need to, but often it made me less hungry.

I climbed out of bed and took a quick shower. I hated the shower. It made everything smell like shampoo and shower water, it made everything echo, it basically cut off my senses. As soon as I was out I dressed and opened the door, allowing the cold, clean air to replace the musky steam. With a pang of sadness I realized how before I was changed I used to love the warmth of the bathroom after a hot shower, how I used to stand there with my eyes closed, just letting the steam surround me...

I had changed. When I was changed into a vampire I became a different person, an unemotional asshole with a cold heart. But only because I needed to block people out. I hadn't had many friends before anyways, so what did it matter? No one noticed the personality change.

But here was Nick. I didn't know him very well, but I wanted to get to know him. He was cute. He was nice. He was sweet.

Oh, right. Yes, I'm gay. The only time anybody acknowledged my existence was to bully me.

I left the house, my backpack on my back. I hated school. Everything about the way I moved changed, and I was suddenly bitter.

I could hear everything; I could hear everyone talking, before I was even a block from the school. I liked to pretend they were talking to me. It made school a little more bearable.

I made it to school and sat down on a bench, listening to the conversations. Nothing too interesting today... My throat burned. I didn't want to kill any of them, but the monster inside of me growled, telling me that just one wouldn't hurt.

Yes. Just one would hurt very much.

I could hear the bell ringing in the office before it rang outside, and I stood and headed off to my English class before anybody could plug up the halls. They parted around me anyways, it didn't really matter. I just preferred not to have to deal with the harsh stares and looks of fear.

_Why were they afraid of me? _I would never know. The ones that looked afraid of me never spoke to anyone about it. _Maybe I'll find out someday. _

My English class was loud. Maybe not to the teacher, but my supersonic hearing made every whisper way _way_ too loud. I knew all the rumors, all the drama, everything.

It _sucked._ Royally.

I tried not to listen to the boring drama of the kids and I let my senses wander through the next few classrooms. Nothing interesting... Wait!

"Jeff? Oh that creepy blonde one?"

_Creepy? How am I creepy?_

"Yeah. I heard he's gay."

"Yeah. I know. I was afraid he was going to jump me or something," the first one laughed. I almost jumped up to go and kill him. But I fought against the monster.

"Dude. David. Not cool." The tan, second boy said.

"Chill out, Wes. I was joking. He's creepy, sure. But we should get to know him." _See? Glad I didn't kill him._

"When?" Wes asked.

"I don't know. Lunch today? He seems like he could be a cool kid."

"Yeah. Do you ever see him at lunch?"

"Yeah. He's always back next to the back building."

"Are we just going to talk to him?"

"Why not invite him to the thing today?"

"The drawing thing? Okay. You think he'll come?"

"Maybe. It's hard to tell with him."

I liked these boys. They were nice. _David and Wes._ Maybe I would go to that drawing thing...

But suddenly the burning in my throat reminded me why I didn't have any friends. I could be close to anyone. It might end badly for them.

I sighed, returning to my body. How come I couldn't be normal? I watched a fly's wings carry the small bug around as he tried to get out the window until the bell rang.

At lunch, I sat back in my normal spot, leaning back and staring at the sky. I watched a plane fly by, and saw a young girl's face in the window, looking down on the terrain, her eyes wide with wonder.

"Jeff?"

I dropped my eyes from the sky and let them land on the two boys in front of me.

"Is it okay if we sit with you?"

I shrugged. I could feel Wes's fear, but David was confident. He sat down right next to me, and Wes sat down sort of in front of me.

"Hello," I said softly. Wes was taken aback. I was confused as to why. I could find out later. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck. My throat burned as I noticed the blood underneath his skin, but I swallowed hard and struggled to keep myself sitting. "I'm Wes."

"And I'm David. How are you?" David said, pulling out a sandwich and beginning to eat.

"Alright. I'd be better if I wasn't so hungry." I blurted, and then realized what I had said. I looked down. At least nothing too bad had slipped out.

"Oh, here, have some chips." Wes offered, reaching in his bag.

"No," I said instantly_. Gross_. "Thanks. I'm on a diet." _A very special diet..._

"Oh. But you're so skinny, why would you need to be on a diet?" David laughed.

"Oh, thanks. But you'd be surprised how fast the weight comes on," I answered.

David slowed his chewing and looked down at his sandwich. I tried not to laugh, but Wes couldn't handle it and he burst out laughing. I let go and allowed myself to chuckle.

David put his sandwich down as if it would detonate, and then he turned back to me. "So we never see you with any friends," he informed me.

"Yeah, I don't have many," I mumbled, retreating back into my shell. I didn't need friends. They would only complicate things.

But Wes and David wouldn't have that. They exchanged a glance. "Would you want to come to our art club tomorrow? And don't forget this is a rare thing. We don't usually invite new members."

"Oh, nah, I'm not very good at art."

"Don't kid yourself, man!" Wes said. "You are an amazing artist. I have Mr. Darien's class right after you. And all those art things? He likes to show us yours."

I blushed. "He does?"

"Oh, yeah I think he quite admires your work." I studied him. He had no twitches, no sweating, no fear or worry smell on him. _Could he possibly he telling the truth? _

He shifted under my stare, and I looked down again.

"So come on, will you give it a try?"

"Maybe..." I mumbled. Which was a no.

"Come on." Wes said. "Really. You look like you could really use some friends."

I hesitated. Because really, I could. I wanted friends. I needed someone to talk to.

But I couldn't. I couldn't. I would end up hurting one or both of them, or they would find out, freak out, and I would be forced away.

My senses seemed to widen as they waited for my response. I could hear everything. I could smell everything, see everything. The ants climbing on David's backpack. The gravel shifting beneath Wes's unmoving feet. The way their clothes moved when they breathed.

Heartbeats.

Blood.

_Food. _

I almost lost it. I almost leaned forward right then and bit down. The only thing stopping me was the fact that I was digging my fingers into my leg.

"I... I can't." those three words were some of the hardest words I had ever spoken. The monster inside of me was growing to say yes get them alone and eat them. I wasn't used to being this close to people. I stopped breathing.

"Why not?" David asked. They could see something was wrong.

_Quick! You need some sort of excuse, Jeff! Now!_ I ordered myself. I only had a certain amount of air left_. No big sob story_.

"I don't do well with friends," I said, forcing tears to my eyes. They saw my eyes start to water and looked horrified. "I've had... Bad experiences." I dropped my voice to a whisper, dropping my eyes as well.

David leaned over and hugged me, and even though I wasn't breathing, his scent burned in my throat. I felt my venom release and I bit down on my tongue. He pulled away, and I looked down, using all my willpower to stay sitting.

To make matters worse, the sun came out.

_Damn sun. _

My whole body burned, the pain in my throat choking me as their scent mixed together and was thrown at me.

No, the sun didn't physically affect me. I didn't sparkle or any shit like that, and I didn't burn up. It just made me hungrier, somehow making me burn everywhere instead of just my throat. And it multiplied everyone's scent by about four.

Before I knew what I was doing I was up and running away. I caught myself at the gate, dropping onto my knees in the shadows, panting, trying to ignore the smell of the teens on the other side of the courtyard.

_I needed to feed! _

"No!" I growled at myself through gritted teeth.

I stayed there for quite some time, until finally I had calmed down and pushed away the fire in my throat. I had caught control of myself just in time, right when David and Wes ran up, falling to their knees beside me. "Are you okay?! You look like you're going to be sick."

"Here, come to the bathroom with us."

"No," I stopped them. "I'm okay. I'm sorry for that. I was... Bad memories. Sorry."

"It's fine, Jeff. Don't worry. Do you want us to walk you to class?"

"Did the bell ring?"

"It did."

That shows just how bad it had been. I hadn't even noticed the bell ring.

_Fifth period... 12:45. _

My mind instantly had done the calculations_. 3:45, school is out in New York. _

Why did I care so much? I couldn't tell. _There is something about him..._

"You know, I think I'm just going to walk home."

"That sounds good." Wes said.

"Do you want a ride?"

"No, thanks. I'll be fine. You should get to class."

For a moment, I felt fine. I felt accepted, cared for. It was a feeling to be coveted. I wanted to have this feeling more. I wanted it to fill me up, to feel it everyday...

But there was an obvious problem. I had just proved that.

_Maybe I could try...?_

"Alright. See you tomorrow?"

I hesitated. "Yeah." I decided. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Wes grinned. "Great! Bye!" then he grabbed David's arm and dragged him towards class.

I stood by the gate, listening to them go.

"I told you that was a good idea."

"Well yeah, but what about that weird running away thing?"

"Dude, you heard him. Bad memories."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Don't judge him before you get to know him."

"You think he'll go to the art club tomorrow?"

"Maybe. Hopefully."

I sighed, letting my senses fall back into my body. I let their conversation boil in my mind as I ran home, too fast for anyone to even notice me. I was home in about five seconds, and I pushed my backpack through the window to my rooms and climbed inside. My mom was at work, and I left my key in my locker. It didn't matter. The window was fine.

My room smelled familiar, it smelled like me. Like my family. Everything was exactly as I had left it.

I did my homework in five minutes, even the calculus, and then I turned on my computer and pulled on my headphones. I hit call before my computer was even fully loaded.

"Hello?" Nick's smiling face popped up on the computer screen. He was wearing a letterman's jacket and his headset.

"Hey, Nick."

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" he laughed.

"I... Felt sick."

His joking expression fell off his face and was replaced by a worried face. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm better now." seeing his face was like a breath of fresh, non-burning air, and I didn't know why.

He grinned, his perfect teeth flashing.

"Well, what do you want to talk about today?"

**Hope you liked it! :)**

**REVIEW! I'll love you forever. Let me know what you think. Is it good? Any suggestions? Any thoughts at all? **

**Tehee! **

**-Nami**


	2. Chapter 2

**HEEYYY EVERYONE! Didn't get a big response to chapter one but WHO CARES IM DOING THIS FOR FUN. Love you guys :3**

**Hehe I just finished writing a book. I'm so happy. **

**Hope you enjoy! **

Chapter 2

The art thing was weird. I made it through it just fine, but everyone stared at me. And when they had me go up to the front and show what I had drawn, a cute little penguin swimming through frigid ice water, except he had shark features, like he was in disguise. Like I was. I looked like a fucking penguin, but inside I was holding back this shark. This incredibly strong, hungry shark.

Everyone stared like they didn't know what to say. Some looked scared, like they had never seen me do anything normal, some looked impressed at the drawing, and some just looked terribly confused. But I got a few compliments and the teacher told me that I had a gift and should definitely come back next Thursday.

"It's the gift with the curse," I had whispered to myself as I left.

Over the next week, I got to know David and Wes better, and we started eating lunch together. Or, well, they ate. I sat there and tried not to eat them.

Nick and I talked everyday. I was happy to discover he actually wanted to talk to me when he called me first, and when I got home one day and had two missed calls from him and he was just sitting there waiting for me to pick up.

Nick was amazing. Nick was sweet, nice, protective, _gay_, adorable, handsome, thoughtful, honest, strong, loving, and to top it all off, he could sing. He told me that he was in his school's glee club, and he had me sing for him. When I had done that, he encouraged me to audition for the choir or the glee club or whatever we had. He told me that I was good, and more people should hear my voice, which made me blush.

We had a long conversation about bullying and being gay. I came out to him first, and he responded with "Oh, yeah, me too. It's the best," and he laughed.

I liked how he made me feel. He made me feel like I could be normal, not this monster anymore.

On the next Friday when I came home with a smile on my face, I was greeted with a surprise. Nothing in my room had changed, but I could smell that my sister had been in here. She had headed straight to the bed to set down a pair of socks, but she had stopped on her way back and taken a detour to look in the closet, and at the window. I noticed the note on the windowsill almost instantly, and I didn't bother picking it up. I read it from across the room.

_Jeff, I know you're different now. But stop leaving at night. Or I might have to tell mom. _

I almost exploded. I had kept it quiet so long... Why now? I finally had friends... And I had Nick.

I found myself in my sister's bedroom doorway, the note in my hand. "Meghan. How long have you known?"

She hardly looked up. "A couple weeks. Really, I will tell mom. Your parties need to stop."

I almost laughed out of happiness. She thought I was just going to parties. But she continued. "It's either that or you're a fucking vampire. And I'm not going with the latter." she finally looked up, but I couldn't get the horror off my face in time. Her eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"What are you talking about?" I said, hiding my shaking.

"You're a vampire! That's why you hardly eat! That's why you hardly sleep! That's why you sneak out every third night! That's why! That's why that'swhythat'swhy!" she rambled, kneeling on the bed and pointing at me, her eyes wide.

"You can't tell anyone," I ordered.

"Are you kidding? I'm telling everyone!" she started standing up on the bed, shouting, "My brother is a-" but I was across the room in a millisecond, my hand against her mouth, my forearm across her throat, and her back against the wall. She probably didn't even feel hitting the wall. Her eyes, wide and terrified, stared silently at me.

"Meghan," I growled angrily, "You can't tell anyone. And you don't want to make me angry."

She nodded, her hands pulling vainly on my arm.

"You have to swear," I told her, moving my hand.

"I swear," she whispered.

"On your life."

"I swear on my life." Her eyes filled with tears and I realized why. She had realized how easily I could kill her.

"Hey," I said. "I'm still me. I could be a cool vampire."

She shook her head. "Just go, please." she whispered. She wouldn't look at me. I sighed, and went back to my room.

I think it was time to leave... But I was feeding tonight. I wanted one more night. A day to say goodbye to my two new friends. And go... Where? I had nowhere else.

I left the house again that night, knowing my sister was watching. I heard her run to throw up, and I felt awful.

When I was finished feeding, I ran home. But when I got there, there was a cop car out front and my mom was standing on the porch with two cops, my sister was standing sheepishly behind her.

"Shit," I said quietly to myself, walking up.

My mom saw me and she gasped. "Jeffrey! You're okay. Oh my god, I was so worried."

"I just went for a walk..." I said. "Sorry I didn't tell you. Did you call the cops?"

"No. They just showed up. Said something about vampires?" she rolled her eyes. "Ridiculous."

I could see that the cops didn't think it was ridiculous. The first one studied me while the second one looked at Meghan. She gave him the tiniest nod, hiding behind my mom even more. _Shit, Meghan! _

"Mom," I said, "I love you." _so much for saying goodbye to Nick... _

I turned around and began to walk away, my hands shoved in my pockets.

"Jeff? Where are you going?"

"Son?" the cop called. "We'd like to ask you some questions. Please, if you'd come back over here."

I turned around, but continued to walk backwards. "Bye. Meghan. Just remember, this is your fault. I love you, mom." my mom turned to Meghan and whispered a question about my goodbye to her. Meghan was just frozen in fear, wondering what she had caused.

Then I turned back around and began to jog away.

"Hey!" One of the cops shouted. I could hear him put away his notebook and run for his car, but I was around the corner, and as soon as I was out of sight I darted away, covering half the city in a few seconds.

I found myself at Wes's house. I was knocking on the door before I knew what I was doing, feeling sick. I heard him in his room, with David. They were sitting at the computer, talking to someone on Skype.

"Hold on, Blaine." Wes said, and he stood and walked through the house and unlocked and opened the door for me. "Jeff?"

"I felt unsafe at my house. Could I possibly stay here tonight?"

"Absolutely, man. What happened?" he asked, letting me in.

I just shook my head. "I don't want to talk about it. What are you doing?"

"Oh, David's over. We're talking to our friends out of town."

He led me to his room. I saw on the computer screen two boys, one really pale, the other really tan, the tan one with large dark eyebrows and dark gelled hair, and the pale one with perfectly coiffed brown hair and a cute little boy face.

"This is Blaine," he pointed at the tan one, who waved and smiled.

"And I'm Kurt," the other boy said. I could see their hands intertwined on the table.

"This is Jeff," Wes said, opening his hand towards me.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"We've heard a lot." Blaine told me, and I chuckled as Wes blushed.

They began talking, and I sat down next to them. My senses were completely open, I could hear the cops racing through the streets and alleys, looking for me on the other side of town.

I began to hear a weird noise. It was coming from my phone... A very very faint buzzing, even to me, like gears working.

It instantly connected. They were tracking my phone! I reached my hand in my pocket and crushed my phone to shards before they could find me. Now there was no connection and they would never find me. Especially when I had left town.

The question, though. Should I tell David and Wes? I looked at them laughing, and remembered how included they made me feel. I decided that I would, and then I would leave.

To where, though? The only person I knew out of state was...

Nick.

I would have to Skype him, though! How could I get the computer without the two boys? Because I had to lie about to Nick why I was going, otherwise he never would let me come.

"Do you want something to eat?" Wes asked me.

"Um..." _A chance? Maybe? _"Can you show me what you have?"

"Sure, come on." He stood and left David at the computer, and I followed him. My mind was on overdrive.

He started listing things, and I requested water. Water was better. When I ate human food, it gave me a terrible stomachache because my system had to burn it up, and it made me less strong, and hungrier. Water was sort of a middle ground. It made me feel a little bloated, but other than that it didn't affect me. It just tasted nasty.

I took a sip of my water and tried not to gag as Wes searched the cabinets for something for him.

"Do you have a laptop?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's in the den. Why?"

"Well, I kind of need to Skype someone, alone. I need to talk to him pretty urgently."

"Oh, sure, go ahead. We'll be in my room," and he was gone. I threw away the water.

I practically ran to the laptop and tapped my fingers impatiently as it booted up. As soon as it was on I logged into Skype and called Nick_. Please pick up... Please pick up... _

"Hello?" his smiling face blossomed onto the screen. It was like a breath of fresh air, seeing his face. I grinned. "Whoa, you're somewhere else. It's so dark."

"Yeah, I'm not home. I have a huge huge favor to ask you..."

"Ask away. As long as I'm not shooting someone, I'm good."

"Okay no shooting. But um, well there's this competition that I'm going to, and it's in New York. In your town. My mom is flying me over tonight, but we don't have enough money to fly her over too. So I don't have anywhere to stay..."

"You want to stay with me? How long?" I sighed in relief as I realized that he sounded okay with this idea.

"Like three weeks?"

"Oh, I thought you were going to say a couple months." he laughed. "I think it'll be fine. Let me ask my sister, though. Hold on." he stood up and disappeared. Nick lived with just his sister, his parents had both died a few years back. But his sister was twenty four, so he lived with her, in an apartment around a bunch of his friends and her friends.

I leaned back and listened to Wes and David, talking to the two boys, about me. I could hear their hushed voices as if they were shouting to me.

"He said it was urgent."

"Who did he call? Did he say?"

"No, he didn't. He mentioned that it was a guy, though."

"Do you think it has anything to do with why he felt unsafe at home?"

"Probably. Most likely. Most definitely."

I listened to make sure they weren't saying anything important, but Nick returned, so I had to pay attention to him.

"My sister said she's fine with it." Nick said. He grinned. "I can't believe that we're going to meet face to face!"

"Yeah, I know!"

"So when is your flight leaving?"

"Oh, I think I'm taking the three o clock one. I'll be there around eleven, somewhere?"

"Sounds great. I'll wait for you at the airport?"

"Sure." I laughed. "Just stand outside with one of those little signs that says Jeff on it. I'll find you."

He laughed with me. "Okay, I'll see you."

"Bye, Nick."

"Bye, Jeff. Oh wait! Hey, what's your number? It would be so much easier to communicate." he chuckled.

"Right," I said. "Um, about that... I kind of broke my phone..."

"Right before a big trip like this?"

"Yeah, I know, it sucks. But we have no time to get a new one, you know."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Alright. I'll see you at eleven?"

"Alright, bye."

"Bye!" and he hung up.

I sighed, deleting the content off the computer so they wouldn't be able to find him later, once I was gone.

Wes and David and Blaine and Kurt had turned to talking about more normal things, and I sat down in the back and listened until Blaine and Kurt had to go. They logged off, and Wes and David laid back on their bed.

I wasn't sure how to do this. _I don't want to do this_! Why couldn't my life just be normal? I listened to the sound of the sirens slowly drawing closer. They must have a general area of where my phone was before it was destroyed. They must've had the street, for they stopped down the street and started going door to door. I could hear Meghan in the backseat, crying quietly. I had about ten minutes, tops.

"Wes? David?"

They looked up. "Yeah?"

"I... I have to go."

"You going home?" Wes asked. He pushed himself up on his elbows.

"No." I responded, looking down. "I can't go home."

"Where are you going?" David asked, looking worried.

"I'm going to New York." I said quietly, not looking up.

"What?" Wes gasped, and David sucked in a breath. "Why?" Wes continued.

"They..." I heard the sirens grow closer, until they were close enough for the boys to hear. They glanced out the window, and I stared out it. The other cop car was starting on the other side of the street... They were getting closer.

The two boys stared at me, confused. Then they pieced it together. "The cops?"

"Is that because of you?" David asked, his eyebrows were raised, and eyes were scared.

I couldn't respond, I just nodded.

"What did you do?" Wes asked, appalled.

"It's what they think I did," I whispered, burying my head in my arms.

"Jeff, we know there's something different about you. Just tell us... We won't judge you. Really."

"Uhm, I'm pretty damn sure that you will judge me."

Now that their suspicions that I was different were confirmed, their eyes widened. "Just tell us," Wes demanded, sitting up on his knees.

"Don't make me say it," I begged. "Try to guess."

"You're anorexic."

"Nothing like that."

"You're... Not actually named Jeff?"

"No. That's my name."

"You're a mass murderer!"

They had hit me, but if I said yes they wouldn't trust me. "Not on purpose."

"What?!" David screamed, jumping away from me. He hadn't been expecting me to say yes.

"I'm not... Human." I said, really quietly. "But don't make me say what I am."

"Werewolf?"

"Why do people always guess that?" I groaned.

"Um... Vampire." Wes guessed.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. I didn't even look at them.

"Oh my god, really?" Wes gasped. His heart started to pound loudly, making me hungry..

"Oh holy shit," David breathed.

"Are you going to... Kill us?" Wes asked.

"No. If I was going to I would have already." I stated. They looked scared. "But guys, calm down, your hearts are..." I shuddered, trying to hold myself back.

"But you do? Eat people, I mean."

"Not the people. Just the blood." just mentioning said word made me thirsty, and the fire burned in my throat. They shivered, probably seeing my eyes darken.

The police knocked on the door of the next house over.

"I have to go," I said, pushing myself up.

"Wait!" Wes said, holding his hand out, telling me to stay. He hesitated. "Let me come with you."

"No, no I can't. I'll Skype you when I get there, okay?"

"Why not text?"

I pulled out my crushed phone, and showed them. "They were trying to track my phone."

"Okay." he didn't tear his eyes away from my phone as he spoke. "As soon as you can, okay?"

I nodded. "Are you... Scared?" I could smell the fear on them; I just didn't want to freak them out with that.

"Oh, yeah." David said with his eyes wide. "Hell yes. But we still care about you, Jeff."

I smiled, thankful.

The police knocked on the door. I could hear him breathing, and I seriously considered feeding on him. Meghan wasn't in this car, and there was no one on the street. There wasn't even a camera in the car.

Wes stood to get the door, but I stopped him. "How uncomfortable are you... If I... You know..."

"The cop?" Wes breathed, appalled.

"Mostly, people who know about me I don't let them stay alive. Other than you guys," I added quickly.

David looked sick and terrified, and Wes fell back onto the bed, shocked and shaking.

"Well..."

Another knock.

"I guess," he said. "I mean, you have to, right?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "I don't mean to scare you two."

"It's okay, go ahead."

"Okay, stay in here. And try not to listen, I guess. I won't... Feed... Here. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop."

They stared at me, wide eyed, as they figured out what I meant.

"Go, go ahead." they seemed eager to get me out of the room.

"I'll talk to you when I get to New York," I said, and then I darted to the door. I could hear their gasps as I basically disappeared.

I opened the door just as the cop was reaching to pound on the door, and he gasped as he recognized me.

"Put your hands in the air!" He ordered, reaching for his gun. But I had already gotten it from his belt, and crushed it easily in the palm of my hand.

"That's a criminal offense!" he hollered, but then I grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head down, breaking his neck with a snap. Smooth, bloodless death. Now I could take him somewhere else to feed. I was afraid for Wes and David.

I left silently and quickly, the man's body draped over my shoulders. I fed on him by the bay, and then I threw his body out with the others. I waited until he sunk, listening to the sound of the San Francisco night life. Screams, laughter, crying... I found my mom, crying in the police station.

"I never knew. I'm his mom," she sobbed, "I should have known. I should have seen it. I thought it was just high school... And he never wanted to talk..."

"It's okay, ma'am. Your son is a murderer; he's not a normal human being. He will have been really good at hiding this."

"I'm not sure if I can believe you..." she whispered, still crying. "Vampires don't exist."

"They most defiantly do." the cop assured my mother. She just cried more.

I had to stop listening. I wished my mom could have been in less pain... I never meant for this.

Well, I needed to start running, or I'd never get there. I'm sure that they already had officers at the airport.

I stole someone's iPhone and some money, which I felt bad about, but I needed it. I got unlucky, the man that I had stole the phone from had a clingy girlfriend. Eventually I texted her and told her that my phone was about to die and I couldn't find my cord. Next time the man saw her he could tell her that his phone was stolen.

I began to run.

**Hope you enjoyed it! I enjoyed writing it. Please review! Anything brightens my day, like anything at all. You could probably review and say you hate me and I'd still be happy. **

**Love ya'll! Please review! Thanks for reading! :3**

**-Nami**


	3. Chapter 3

**Heeey guys I liked the response to chapter two :3 **

**Thank you everybody. :) Reviews mean everything to me :D**

**Enjoy! Here's the next chapterrr! **

_Chapter 3_

At ten thirty, I reached New York. But I had absolutely no idea where the airport was, and now there were too many people to run. So I looked it up on the GPS of my new phone, then I crushed the phone so they couldn't track it.

I walked to the airport, and when I got there it was ten till. I slipped inside with the backpack I had jacked from a store, and then I walked out, looking for Nick. I found him right away, staring at the doors, a smile on his face, his letterman's jacket pulled tight around him in the cold post winter weather. I pretended not to notice him, walking down the sidewalk, my eyes down on the map in my hand like I was trying to make it make sense.

"Jeff?"

His voice... There were no words. His voice was so musical, so much than it was over the stupid computer. His voice sounded like he was singing, like wind chimes, like water flowing down a river bed, like wind in the trees. And when my eyes came up to meet his, and I could fully look into his eyes, I just about died. His eyes were beautiful, an amazing mix of brown and green. I had thought his eyes were just brown, but now I could see the green around the rims of his irises, and a bit near his pupils too. His mouth, curved into a smile, looked soft amazing, and his lips were so perfectly shaped... I forced myself to not stare at his lips and instead I admired his hair. Perfectly brushed to the side, his brown hair looked soft and lovely and I wanted to reach out and stroke it. He had a great build, with a strong, muscled upper body, and I wanted to hug him.

"Nick?" I said, grinning.

"Wow," he said, looking taken aback. "You're so much more attractive in person."

I blushed, and spoke again. "You're one to talk, handsome."

His smiled spread over his face and he gave me a hug.

I bit him.

It took me a moment to realize that _no_, I hadn't bit him. It was just a horrifying very detailed, _VERY _strong daydream. He smelled... It took all my strength, all of my willpower, six times the willpower that I had needed to use with David and Wes in the sun, to just not pull back a bit and bite down. I could smell his blood, the smell seemed to engulf me, and force its way down my throat. His blood smelled so sweet, kind of like people's blood in the sun when I hadn't fed in too long. And the sky was cloudy. And I had fed last night.

No one I had ever met ever smelled this appetizing.

_No!_ I screamed at myself_. No, Jeff! Nick is not APPETIZING. Nick is not food. _

The monster inside me growled in hunger, begging me to kill him. But I forced it down, trying not to breathe. I could feel my pupils dilating and my venom releasing, but I still managed to say, "Are we walking to your apartment? Or driving?"

"Walking. It's just down the street," he informed me, pulling out of the hug. His smell was still overpowering, but not quite as bad as when we were hugging.

We began to walk, and he said, "What kind of competition is it?"

I had already had it all planned out, and I had actually found a competition that I was going to go to. "It's an art competition. We are showing off and explaining a piece that we think explains us. I'm a newer member. I'm kind of hoping to get promoted." I had actually stopped running in Nevada so I could go online and sign up for the competition, and the group. I had everything worked out. I didn't like to lie to Nick. I wanted to be telling as much truth as I could.

We talked about the city as we walked down the street, and my 'flight.' I told him about the man I had supposedly been sitting next to, and how fat and loud and annoying he was.

We got to his apartment, and he unlocked the door. I held my breath, knowing his smell was going to knock me off my feet when I walked in.

"Jessie!" he hollered, closing the door behind us. The front room was connected to a small kitchen thing, with a half counter in between. The main room was occupied by a couch, and a television on a cabinet, next to an exercise bike. He took me through the hall that led off the back of the couch, and I saw a bathroom to the right, which I couldn't wait to smell, because it probably smelled like Nick's hair. But I was still holding my breath, worried about the smell of his blood. He pulled me into a bedroom, where there was a mattress on the floor, and a girl was lying on it, staring at another TV that was at the foot of the bed.

"This is Jeff."

"Ah, so this is you. I've heard so much," she said casually, her eyes sparkling with laughter. Nick blushed furiously.

"Are any of the boys home?" Nick asked, changing the subject. His blush made me hungry, and I tried to focus instead on what they were talking about.

"Yeah, only Thad and Sebastian went out, to that Mexican restaurant, I think. But the other three are." she turned back to the television.

"I want Jeff to meet them!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door.

I could already hear the voices of three boys, all in the apartment across the hall.

"You should be in your own apartment!"

_No way. That couldn't be? _

"Yeah, well it's boring with Thad and Sebastian gone." another voice said.

Another familiar voice, "Didn't Nick say he had a friend coming?"

"Yeah, he was supposed to get here twenty minutes ago."

Nick pulled open the door to his apartment and knocked on theirs, two quick beats and then three slower ones. He was grinning like crazy, super excited.

"Come in!" the only unfamiliar voice called.

"Hey!" Nick hollered, bursting in, dragging me by the hand with him.

"Jeff?!" Blaine and Kurt gasped simultaneously, and I grinned.

"It's you guys!" I laughed, and accidentally forgot about not breathing and caught a huge gulp of air that was saturated with Nick's smell. The odor was like a slap to the face, and it almost brought tears to my eyes. He smelled so damn _GOOD!_

I dug my fingernails into my palm, breathing in, trying to get used to it. I was dying.

"How come you're suddenly in New York?" Kurt asked.

"Wait wait wait." Nick said. "Wes and David's new friend was Jeff? And Jeff your two new friends were Wes and David?"

"It's a small world," I laughed.

"It really is." Blaine said, nodding. Then he turned to Kurt just as the brown haired boy opened his mouth, and tackled him. "Don't sing it!"

Kurt and Blaine fell into a giggling mess on the floor, and Trent just watched, smiling.

Nick laughed. "Well, I'm going to go get Jeff moved in. Come on, Jeff let's go!" he grabbed my hand again and pulled me from the room. I had to follow, because if I didn't want him to pull me, he wouldn't be able to. I went with him back to his apartment, where we headed straight for the only room I hadn't been in, his bedroom. I took a deep breath, letting his scent burn up my throat. I needed to get used to it. For a moment I lost track of myself, and when I opened my eyes I was lunging for Nick's neck. Thinking fast, I turned it into a hug, wrapping my arms around his neck and saying, "Thank you for having me." I stopped breathing, afraid I would bite him. I set my chin on his back, keeping my mouth away from his neck.

For a moment he was stunned, but then he hugged me back. "No problem, Jeff." After he spoke, he laughed out, "For a moment I thought you were going to bite me."

I laughed nervously, pulling away, trying to hide it. "Yeah, cause I'm totally a vampire."

He laughed, his eyes squinting. "Come on, dork. I'll show you where you're going to sleep."

He grabbed my hand again, and he pulled me towards the bedroom. When he opened the door, I saw instantly everything that I had seen through the computer screen, only slightly cleaner. The bed had been made, and there was an air mattress on the floor with a sheet on it, a blanket and a comforter, neatly made with a pillow at the top. He had even put a little candy on the pillow, which smelled nasty. Behind the computer there was a window and a small fish tank, and next to the tank sat a guitar case. He pulled off and hung his letterman's jacket up on the back of his door and plopped down on his bed. "So what are you going to do while I'm at school?"

I took a moment to take a deep breath, letting the smell completely intoxicate me, setting my throat on fire and making my venom release. But I held myself back from lunging again. I had already almost killed him. I uncomfortably swallowed the venom in my mouth.

"Well," I started, sitting on the bed that was made for me and setting my bag down, "Some of the time I'll be at the competition. Some more of the time I'll probably be wandering New York, getting to know the area? And maybe I could come to school with you once or twice? I don't know, it was just an idea."

"Oh, that sounds great. I can get a note from my sister about how you're an exchange student or something." he grinned, pushing his hair to the side. I looked down, breathing deeply again, and fighting the tears that came with the pain in my throat. I wanted to bite him so badly.

"Sounds fun," I choked out, but I still managed to say it smoothly.

"So why don't you get unpacked and change or whatever and we can go out on the town?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "The boys said they wanted to take you out at night."

"Sure," I said. "Let me change."

He left the room, heading for the kitchenette, and closed the door behind himself.

Quickly, while he was gone, I buried my face in his bed and breathed deeply. It torched my throat, and my whole body burned in the pain. My venom released, filling my mouth, but I swallowed it, wincing. _Just one little bite couldn't hurt, right? _

_NO!_ I hit myself, growling_. No hurting Nick._ I changed quickly, into ripped jeans and a hoodie, and then pulled on my shoes again. I pulled out the wad of cash I had swiped from people's purses and pockets at the airport and across the country, and stuck it in my pocket. Sure, stealing was bad, but I mean, I was already a criminal, and you know, I had no other option.

Remembering the guitar, and ran over and opened the case. The acoustic instrument was sleek black wood, stained nicely with a signature on the bottom. The strings were well used, and beneath the overpowering smell of Nick I could smell the polish, the wood and the strings. It smelled old, but well kept.

"Hey Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I bring your guitar?"

"If you're careful, sure." he said, walking into the room. "It's special."

I strapped the case to my back. "Who gave it to you?"

"My friends, on my sweet sixteenth." he jerked his thumb at the door, no doubt talking about his friends in the other apartments. "It was kinda the only thing I got. Jessie said she felt really bad but we hardly have enough money to pay the bills…"

"Wow. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"Oh, Jeff, here." he handed me a key. "It's to the apartment. Just in case."

"Okay," I said, slipping it into my pocket.

We headed out, meeting Blaine, Kurt and Trent on the street. They stood, shifting. They looked worried. "What is it?" Nick asked.

"We don't know where Thad and Sebastian are." Kurt said, looking down the street.

Blaine pulled out his phone to check the time, and I saw the picture of the four boys that were standing with me along with two other boys that must have been Sebastian and Thad. I allowed my senses to roam and found the two boys, a few blocks down, running down the street towards us.

Kurt began to cry as I returned, but I furrowed my eyebrows. "What is it, Jeff?" Nick asked me.

"I can feel them. I think they're down that way." I pointed.

"What do you mean you can feel them?" Blaine asked, but right then the two boys ran around the corner and practically smashed into us.

"Whoa." Nick said. "You knew they were coming?"

"I kind of have a bit of a sixth sense." I made up quickly.

"Seriously? Awesome." Trent said.

"Is this Jeff? Oh my god!" The brown-haired one exclaimed, and the other hugged me.

"Jeff, this is Thad," nick said, motioning to the black-haired boy who had hugged me, "And this is Sebastian." he motioned to the brunette one.

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking their hands.

"Are you okay?" Sebastian asked. "You look pallid."

"What?" I said, taken aback. Who uses the word pallid in normal conversation?

"Pallid? Pale, lost color-"

"I know what it means. Just who says that in normal conversation?" I laughed.

"Sebastian is weird," Thad explained, grabbing his hand and smiling. I heard Sebastian's heart speed up and blood gathered under his cheeks, turning his face and appetizing red. I pushed my hunger away. I was too close to too many people all the time here... I might have to hunt more often.

We started walking, talking and laughing, and we stopped at a little Mexican place.

I instantly realized the problem. What am I supposed to do? _I can't eat!_ If I eat, then I'll get hungrier for blood. And if I'm any hungrier I could kill Nick, and all of his friends. _What do I do? _

We sat down, and I was next to Nick, Blaine on my other side. Nick showed me the menu, leaning closer, into my shoulder. "I think I'm going to get the enchilada. What are you going to get?"

"Um..." I mumbled, looking at my hands.

"What is it?" he grabbed my hand, making me look at him. "What?"

"I... Can't eat." Damn it! Jeff, how are you going to play that off?

"Why not?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"On a diet," I mumbled, looking away again.

He was quiet for a long time. When I looked back, he looked sad, and kind of doubtful. "Really?"

"Huh?"

"Jeff. I know we haven't known each other for a long time, but I know you pretty well. I can tell you're lying."

"I..." _damn, he sure was smart..._ "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright Jeff. But just remember, I'm always here to talk to. And you're perfect, whatever you look like."

He thought I was anorexic... Of course. Everyone thought that.

"No, Nick, I'm not anorexic." the words slipped out. Shit! No! That would have been the perfect cover story, why didn't I go with that? I almost groaned.

He nodded, like he didn't believe me. I felt like arguing, but then I just let it go.

"Will you at least get something to drink?" he asked, looking at me, his eyes in pain. He was hurting. He was hurting for me.

"Nick, don't worry about me. I'm totally fine. I'll get water if it will make you happy. But I don't want you to worry about me. Okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, looking away. I could smell his eyes watering up. But he fought it back and then looked back at the menu.

"Are you crying?" I asked quietly, so no one else could hear me, absentmindedly leaning closer.

"No," he sniffled.

"Nick. Really. I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm actually better than I've been in a long time."

He grabbed my hand, squeezing it once. "We can talk about this later."

"Nick..."

"What are you guys getting?" he asked Trent, turning away. I sighed. I knew he wasn't going to let this go.

We had a nice dinner, and when we had finished and paid, we went for a walk in central park.

"Jeff, do you play?" Blaine asked, his arm around Kurt, as he gestured to the guitar.

"I do, actually." I said.

"Play for us!" Nick gushed, taking the case and sitting on a bench, pulling the others with him. I positioned my fingers on the strings, unsure of which song to sing for them. After a moment I had it.

"Okay, I'm sure you're going to know this one," I said, getting ready. I had changed this song to guitar just so I could play it.

I took a breath and hummed a note with the guitar so I would be on the right notes. I began to play, the soft falling notes. Then I began to sing.

_On my own_

_Pretending he's beside me_

_All alone_

_I walk with him till morning_

_Without him_

_I feel his arms around me_

_And when I lose my way I close my eyes_

_And he has found me_

The boys were now stunned, sitting like stone. I closed my eyes, trying not to cry. This song always made me emotional.

_In the rain the pavement shines like silver_

_All the lights are misty in the river_

_In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight_

_And all I see is him and me forever and forever_

I could smell that more than one of them was crying, knowing the rest of the song, the sadness to come.

_And I know it's only in my mind_

_That I'm talking to myself and not to him_

_And although I know that he is blind_

_Still I say, there's a way for us_

_I love him_

_But when the night is over_

_He is gone_

_The river's just a river_

_Without him_

_The world around me changes_

_The trees are bare and everywhere_

_The streets are full of strangers_

_I love him_

_But every day I'm learning_

_All my life_

_I've only been pretending_

_Without me_

_His world will go on turning_

_A world that's full of happiness_

_That I have never known_

There was a pause after my high note, and I sniffled a bit, trying to hold it together. I could make it. I had sung the whole song before, even in front of a crowd. And that was before I had a perfect voice box.

_I love him_

_I love him_

_I love him_

_But only on my own_

Silence followed my song, and it seemed to hang in the night. I pushed the guitar to my back, and crossed my arms, looking down. Nick got up and wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face in my neck. His neck was right there, but I tried not to think about it.

"Jeff, that was beautiful," Blaine said, wiping a tear off his face with the hand that wasn't around the crying Kurt.

"Thank you," I whispered, wrapping my arms around Nick, and pulling him closer, glad he was there. Before I had met him, I had never had someone to feel that way about. But now I could understand the feelings, the lyrics.

Wait.

_What. _

My mind scrambled around. I love him. Protecting him was all I wanted. I wanted him to be safe and happy.

Basically, I wanted him not around me.

I was at an impasse. I wanted him to be safe, so I had to leave, so I couldn't hurt him. But I needed to protect him, to stay. I didn't know what to do.

He sniffled, hugging me tighter, and that's when I decided. I needed to stay with him. If anything happened to this boy, I would be lost forever. I would just have to hunt every night.

We walked back to the apartments in silence, Nick walking right next to me.

I stepped into his room right behind him, letting the smell infest my senses, trying to grow accustomed to it. My throat burned. Nick sat down on his bed, and motioned for me to sit next to him.

I sat down, setting his guitar on my bed. "Jeff." Nick said seriously. "Anorexia is not something to toss around lightly."

"Nick," I breathed, "I'm not anorexic."

"How come you didn't eat, then?"

"I told you. I'm on a diet." I lied.

"We both know that's not true. And look how skinny you are. You don't need to diet." He stepped forward and before I understood what was happening he lifted my shirt to show off the fact that I actually had abs.

"Nick, really." I pulled my shirt down, stepping back. "Don't worry about me. At all."

"Jeff, you-"

"Nick!" I interrupted him. "Really."

He sighed. "Really, though. You need to try to eat more."

Believe me, if I could, I would. "Okay." I responded, taking the easier way out.

"Okay, now you should sleep. Are you coming to school with me?"

"Not tomorrow. I'm going to wander tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll probably be gone when you get up, so I'll see you," he hugged me. His hair smelled like strawberries underneath his flaming amazing fantastical aggravating smell.

Then he pulled away and lay down, and I climbed into my own bed, putting the guitar on the table. I laid there for a long time, until I eventually heard Nick's breathing even out and he fell asleep.

**Thanks again for reading hehehe**

**Please please review, my babies! I think I might to a Question of the Day. Would you guys like that? Would I get any response? Tell meeeee :3**

**Thanks again ahaha I love you guys so much.**

**-Nami**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. I know it's been a while. Sorry. **

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 4

I silently got up, and I opened the window, looking down at the two story drop. I had to wait for five minutes for people to not be around, I couldn't hear any breathing on the street, so I dropped to the sidewalk and went hunting.

It wasn't hard to find someone bad, I actually found multiple of them, and fed three times, trying to hide that pain in my throat. Outside, in the cool New York air, it was hard to think that Nick's smell could be so ridiculously hideously painful. My stomach was full, the fire in my throat dulled. I was wandering back, my hands in my pockets, when I heard the commotion. A voice I recognized, who?

_Blaine?!_ I ran, full out, but only until I was close enough to be seen. I could see Blaine on the street, surrounded by men. A flash of silver showed me that one of the men had a knife. "Give us your money," He growled at Blaine.

Blaine, trying to hold his ground, said feebly, "I don't have any money."

_"Don't lie!"_ he hollered, and Blaine cowered. His shaking right hand went for his pocket, but that was right when I smashed into the first man. I didn't want to go too full out, because I needed to look human to Blaine. It was hard. I would have to do it without making them bleed.

The man and I tumbled to the ground, and I wrestled the knife from him and tucked it in the pocket of my jeans. The man was surprised, and he lay on the ground, stunned, but I was already up, my fist crashing into the next man's face.

"Jeff?" Blaine said, his voice shaking, as the men collected themselves and began to close in on me.

"Go, Blaine!" I screamed, spinning around and kicking the forth man in the throat. He coughed and stumbled back, I guess I kicked a little harder than I meant to... I couldn't hear air getting through. The next man swung a punch, and I ducked. I now had three closing in on me, and the first man was getting up, but I wasn't sure if the guy I had kicked was down was going to get back up.

"Blaine, go!" I ordered through snarling teeth, and he finally took the hint and ran for the apartment building. I shoved one of them and he went tumbling, and as soon as Blaine was out of sight I finally let my strength out, letting my foot send a man flying towards the street wall. Surprisingly, the other three kept coming. Two down. As the first man punched at me, I grabbed his wrist and cracked his arm. He hopped around, howling, as the last two came together, both grabbing for me. But I dropped down, sending them over my head, and I twisted around, hand-springing and introducing their faces to the ground with my feet. I realized the last one was too much as both of their noses and head injuries began to bleed, and the smell immediately went to my head. My eyes darkened, and my venom released. But I could hear Blaine running back with Nick and Kurt and Trent, and I fought the craving to drink from them. All five of the men clambered to their feet, and ran away, their tears streaming. Their blood was still on the street, and I felt my world rock as I tried not to follow them. But nick was coming! I was so unstable!

Moving without thinking, i darted into an alley, and hid behind a trash can, letting my senses onto the now-empty street. I felt sick and overwhelmed, tears coming to my eyes.

"Jeff!" Blaine and Nick screamed, running around the corner. Kurt tripped and tumbled across the ground, scraping his knee, and I instantly could smell the blood_. The blood..._

"Jeff, where are you?!" Nick screamed. I could hear him crying. _The blood... _

"Jeff!" Someone screamed. I found myself standing, walking towards the street, but not because I wanted to see them... _The blood smells so... _

"Jeff, no!" I said to myself, catching myself and slammed my head against the wall, leaving a decent sized dent into cement. _Great_. I curled into fetal position, trying to hide from who I was.

"Jeff?" Nick called. He had heard me. He grew closer. I needed to get control of myself. _I can't, I can't. Do I run? Or do I hide? _

_Too late! _Nick found me, and he ran up to me, falling to his knees next to me, frantically pulling me up and searching me for wounds. His scent washed over me, and my throat was set aflame. It was better than it had been before, but it was still agonizing. I couldn't speak; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hold myself back. His eyes frantically searched me, but he found nothing. I was still unable to move.

"Jeff, what's wrong? Jeff?" He shook me, his voice frantic. His hands continued to search me, running over my sides and through my hair and down my legs, looking for holes or blood or anything. The feeling of his hands everywhere on me gave me butterflies, which helped a lot to distract me from the smell. Blaine and Trent caught up, but Kurt sat in the street, nursing his wounded knee. I held my breath.

"What's wrong with him?" Blaine asked. He didn't wait for an answer, he just turned to me. "How did you fight them off?"

"I took self defense classes in San Francisco." I lied, using up almost all of my air. But I gradually began to regain better control of myself.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No," I answered, and that was it for my air.

"Come on, let's get you back to the apartment," Nick said, pulling me up by the arm with one hand. I noticed he kept the other firmly in his pocket.

Assuring myself I'd be fine, I took a deep breath, the fireball shooting down my throat. "What happened to your hand?" I asked him, still allowing him to pull me along.

"Oh. We were running, and I fell..."

I froze, instantly catching my breath. If he was bleeding...

"What?" he laughed. "I probably just sprained it."

"Can I see it?" I asked before I could stop myself, the monster inside of me growling for his blood. Before I could take back what I said he pulled his hand from his pocket.

Instant relief. It wasn't bleeding. I took it in my hands, feeling the bones underneath his skin, and his pulse, which was speeding up. I swallowed hard. But nothing was broken; he had just pulled the muscle too tight_. Just sprained. _

"Is it broken?" he asked. I could hear the pain behind his voice.

"No. You just sprained it." I told him. "Don't worry about it. Do you have a brace?"

"I do," Kurt said from the ground. I remembered his wound, but standing next to Nick, I couldn't even think about it.

"Of course you do," Nick chuckled.

Blaine crouched next to his boyfriend. "How's your knee?"

"It stings like a bitch." he caught himself and covered his mouth. "Sorry. Like a _female dog._"

I laughed. I loved these guys.

Kurt used Blaine's shoulder to push himself up, but he took one step and almost collapsed. Blaine caught him, however, and then scooped him up and carried him. I was taken aback, Blaine must have been stronger than I thought, for Kurt was taller than him.

When we finally reached the apartment again, Nick was practically falling asleep on his feet, and I pulled his arm around my shoulders so I could help him up the stairs. I was reminded of the late hour as everyone started to yawn, and I tried to get Nick up the stairs faster. Blaine, Kurt and Trent went ahead of us, and when I got Nick to his room, the wrist brace was sitting by the door and the three boys were settling into their beds. I picked up the wrist brace and Nick leaned into me, mumbling unintelligible words.

"Come on, Nick," I said, pulling him inside. He wouldn't move, so I had to scoop him up and carry him. His eyes widened a bit.

"You're so strong," he noted.

"Thank you."

"We need to have a weight lifting contest some time."

"Sure, Nick. Let's just get you to bed. You have school tomorrow."

He groaned, and leaned his face into my neck. "I hate school."

"I know," I said, setting him on the bed. "Hold on a second." I told him and then I ran to the kitchen. I used my nose to find the medicine cabinet, and found an Ace Bandage inside. I took it back to Nick, who was sitting up, humming This Love by Maroon 5. I hummed along with him as I wrapped the bandage around his wrist so he wouldn't hurt it in his sleep. I could put his hand in the brace tomorrow.

"You know this song?" He giggled.

"I love this song," I said back. He pulled his hand away and threw his arms around my neck, giving me a peck on the cheek. I blushed.

"Thank you, Jeff." he said, and I could hear his smile. "Thank you for taking care of me," he told me, and then he lay back in his bed. "Goodnight."

I smiled, biting my lip, and tucked him in, and then went to my own bed. As I laid there, breathing, burning, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to Skype David and Wes. I sent them a text from the phone I had stolen apologizing and telling them that I couldn't really Skype them. They responded quickly, telling me how worried they had been. I sighed and ignored the texts, and then allowed myself to fall asleep.

I woke up to the gears turning in Nick's alarm clock. Seconds later the alarm went off, and I was already up and on the edge of Nick's bed. He stirred, and sat up, clicking off his alarm. "Morning Jeff," He mumbled.

"Morning. Can I see your hand?"

He held it out, his eyes not even fully open. I unwrapped the ace bandage, and I pulled the brace on. He winced as I tightened it. "Sorry." I murmured, adjusting the Velcro.

"Thank you, Jeff," He sighed, leaning on me, his eyes still closed. Then he pushed himself up, got ready for school, and left.

I sighed, sad that he was gone, that I would have to wait until three to see him again. I got dressed in a button up plaid shirt and jeans, put on my pack, and left after him.

I wandered the streets, my hands in my pockets, mapping the area in my mind. I walked into shops and bought little trinkets, and of course, even though I felt bad about it, I stole more money. I bought clothes, because I hadn't had time to pack my own clothes. After I had made a full circle, I dropped off my pack and darted through the alleys towards the school. I took a side alley, and my feet barely touched the ground as I practically flew through the alley. My foot left the ground, and then suddenly something flew out of nowhere from the side and smashed into me, taking both of us sideways into the wall.

"What are you doing here?" He was growling before we had even settled onto the ground. I kicked him off of me.

He backed off for a moment, and I had a moment to look at him. He was definitely a vampire, dark shadows under his eyes, heart still, but the blood of his last victim still running under his skin. His eyes were bright, he had obviously just fed, and he was wearing a jacket and jeans, and he had longer brown hair. "This is my territory," he growled.

"Dude," I said, holding my hands up. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Shut up!" he screamed. "I don't care that you didn't know! You still fed here."

"Don't get worked up." I told him. "What harm am I doing? Trust me; I'm probably more careful to not get exposed than you are. I'm Jeff," I held my hand out to shake his, hoping that I wouldn't lose that hand.

His eyes instantly softened. "Ryder," he said, shaking my hand. "Oh god, I thought you were like the last ones. I didn't put on that stupid act and they tried to run me out of the city."

I relaxed. He was cool; I didn't have to worry about fighting him. "Are they still here?"

"I don't know. If they are, they're on the other side of the city. I stay over here."

"Ah. Alright. How many?" I asked, rubbing at my elbow, where Ryder had given me a bruise when he smashed into me. Only vampires could give other vampires bruises. And they only lasted about a day.

"Two, I think. Watch out for them. They were pretty vicious." his eyes stayed locked on my bruise. "Sorry about that."

"Okay." I answered. "And it's fine."

"Sorry for tackling you. You looked like you were in a hurry, go ahead. I'll see you later," he said, and he was gone, leaving me a good-natured pat on the back.

I resumed running, arriving at the school in a few seconds. I found Nick's smell, following the burning in my throat, and I climbed to the roof, sitting above his classroom.

He was pretty quiet in most of his classes, only in the PE class or when he was with his friends did he allow himself to come out of his shell. I watched through a high window as he ran around the gym with Blaine running next to him. Nick looked so sexy in those shorts and that tight shirt... My mind exploded with dirty thoughts, and I tried to suppress them. Even just kissing Nick would be a bad idea. With that sweet mouth-watering smell...

I lay on my stomach on the roof at lunch, looking down at the boys, watching, feeling creepy, but watching anyways.

"So how much do you like Jeff?" Kurt gushed, pushing Nick. At my name, Nick smiled, biting his lip. Trent gasped.

"Oh, you totally like him!" He said.

"I do..." Nick spoke, scratching the back of his neck innocently. _He liked me? How could he like me? _

"Make a move! He totally adores you, Nick."

_Was it that obvious?_ I was taken aback.

"How can you tell?" Nick said, unsure.

"Trust me, I can tell." Kurt responded. "Didn't I call it with Thad and Sebastian?"

"True..." Nick mumbled. Thad and Sebastian both blushed, squeezing each other's hands.

"So make a move!"

"I don't know... I feel like he feels held back somehow. Like there's something bugging him, but he's trying to hide it. He isn't very kind to himself. I don't think he likes who he is... So I'm trying to bring his walls down, but it's hard. He's gotten himself very protected."

I whispered to myself, "For good reason..."

"Well you can always just get to know him first," Thad suggested.

"That's what I'm trying to do," Nick said quietly. I sighed. I just wanted to be able to hug him, to kiss him, without worrying about biting him.

The bell rang again, and I followed him to his class, jumping from roof to roof. He was quiet in the rest of his classes, even in the classes with his friends in it. I wondered what he was thinking about. A lot of the time he played with the wrist brace, or doodled on a piece of paper. I inhaled deeply, trying to burn his scent into my throat while he wasn't right there for me to bite.

When the final bell rang, I ran back to the apartment as fast as I could, and I lay in my bed, stretching out and closing my eyes. I evened out my breathing, listening to the sound of the boys returning home. They had all taken the bus, and were laughing at a joke Thad had made. All of them except Nick. I frowned. It was my fault that he was down like this.

"I'll see you guys," Nick said, turning his keys in the lock of the door. I closed my eyes and turned my back to the door, pretending to be asleep. "Jeff?" He called, closing the doors. He walked through the house and found me, right as he was calling out my name again, but he only managed to pronounce the first letter before catching himself, realizing I was asleep. He stood in the doorway for a while, his eyes on me. Then he kicked off his shoes and hung up his backpack and jacket.

He came around the bed and laid down next to me, right in front of me, his head propped on his arm, his eyes on my face.

As I lay there, I began to drift, because I didn't want to move and make him think that I had been awake the whole time. I tried to stay awake, but then I lost it, and fell asleep.

**Yaay there's that chapter. Telll me if you liked it? Tell me even if you hated it! Review and say that it needs to be different! Let me know! Reviews make my day :)**

**Thank You, guys! :D **

**-Nami **


	5. Chapter 5

**Here I am again! And theres no long pause in between my posts! :D **

**Enjoy! I love you guys. **

Chapter 5

I felt a hand on my face. Someone was caressing my cheek with their thumb. I didn't open my eyes, but my other senses flooded with a flow of crap. I could hear Blaine and Kurt doing their homework with Trent in their apartment, Thad and Sebastian watching a movie snuggled up in each other's arms, and the neighbors downstairs from us were baking a cake. I could smell the heat from the oven, the eggs and mix in the pan that they were mixing... It smelled gross. I could smell Nick's sister stretched out on the floor, and I could hear the news reporter on the TV, announcing that it was four. I tried to block the smell of food from the fridge.

And of course the almost overpowering smell of Nick. He was still lying in front of me, and it was his hand that was brushing my cheek. I lifted my hand and grabbed his, pushing my eyes open and looking down at his hand.

I brought my eyes up to his smiling face, looking down on me with an adoring expression. "Good morning, sleepyhead." he said, his teeth showing as he smiled.

I yawned. "How long was I asleep?"

"Well you've been asleep since I got home from school," he told me, pushing himself up. I reluctantly let go of his hand. "You hungry?"

"Nah, I ate when you were at school."

"What did you eat?"

"I ate at Taco Bell when I was walking around." I lied confidently, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"Okay. When was that?"

"About two. I came back and accidentally fell asleep."

"Oh. Alright. Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did. How long were you lying there?" I asked, pulling on socks.

"Only about five minutes," he blushed, but he was turned away from me. I pushed my hunger down. I would have to feed again tonight.

"Are you coming to school with me tomorrow?"

"Maybe Wednesday? I have to go to the competition tomorrow, and turn in my project."

"Oh, alright. Which one are you turning in?"

I pulled the drawing from my backpack, the one I had drawn while I was stopped on my way across the country, a drawing of a torn up, beaten up young boy, clutching a little stuffed dog to his chest. I handed him the drawing, and watched as his beautiful eyes drifted over it.

"Jeff, that looks like you. Is it supposed to be you?" his eyes snapped up and met mine.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Why is he in such bad shape?"

"I didn't... Have a great childhood..." I mumbled, not looking at him. "I'm very emotionally beaten up."

"Come here," he said, leaving my drawing on the bed, and wrapping his arms around me. "I'm here for you," he whispered in my ear.

I swallowed my tears and the burning in my throat. "Thank you, Nick." I said back.

We sat there for a while, and then he pulled away and grabbed his guitar. "I like this song, I hope you do to," he told me, and he began to play.

_"I was fine_

_I pulled myself together_

_Just in time_

_To throw myself away_

_Once my perfect world was gone I knew_

_You ruined everything_

_In the nicest way. _

_You should know_

_How great things were before you_

_Even so_

_They're better still today_

_I can't think of who I was before_

_You ruined everything _

_In the nicest way._

_Bumps in the road remind us_

_The best of the worst behind us_

_Only good things will find us_

_Me and you_

_Days will be clear and sunny_

_We're gonna need more money _

_Baby you know it's funny_

_All those stories comin' true_

_Despite my better efforts _

_It's all for you_

_The worst kind of cliché_

_I'll be with you till the day you leave_

_You ruined everything_

_In the nicest way." _

As the song ended his eyes came up and met mine. There was a long pause, and I couldn't speak. I loved the song; it was slightly familiar, like I had heard it before. But it was a great song, and our eyes had locked, and neither of us was looking away. He started to lean forward, his eyes dropping down to look at my lips.

I wanted nothing more than to let him kiss me, but I couldn't. Even the thought of my lips touching his made my throat burn madly and my venom release. I swallowed painfully, trying to decide if I was going to let him kiss me or not. He was already about two inches away, and he hesitated. A smile played across his lips and I held my breath. "You look scared," he whispered, his hand reaching up to rest against the side of my face, and his thumb brushed my cheek.

I just shook my head a bit, even though I was. I was afraid I would kill him. I just wanted him to be safe, to be okay. I wanted him to be with someone good for him, someone who wasn't me.

He laughed without sound, a breath through the teeth of his grin, and he wrapped his arms around my neck, his forehead leaning on mine. I was frozen, unable to lean forward and bridge that gap between us, and right at the moment-

"Nick!" Jessie hollered from the other room.

Nick let go of the breath he had been holding and dropped his head to my shoulder, his arms sliding down and falling to my sides. "Horrible timing, huh?" he said to me, pulling back to look in my eyes, and then he leaned over my shoulder and called, "Yeah?"

I had a moment to clear my head as he had an exchange with his sister about dinner. I couldn't kiss him. I couldn't. It could end so badly...

His sister called him to the other room and as soon as he was gone I sighed. I buried my face in his blankets and inhaled, trying hopelessly to get rid of the burn in my throat. I had no idea what just happened. It felt so unreal...

"Jeff! Dinner!" Jessie called, and I headed out.

We sat on the couch, and Nick handed me a bowl of pasta and sauce. It looked disgusting, and smelled just as much so. While Jessie was in the kitchen area, Nick whispered to me, "I want you to eat all of it." He gave me a death stare.

I forced my mouth open and chewed and swallowed quickly. My throat flared in protest, just like it usually did, except Nick's smell following it up made my eyes (and my mouth) water.

Finishing it was excruciating. I have no idea how I didn't lean over right there and sink my venom covered teeth into his neck. By the time I was done I was ready to hurl, and I unsteadily took my bowl to the sink. I could feel Nick's worried eyes on me.

"Jeff? You look green, are you okay?"

Thinking quickly and using my nose, I choked out, "There were onions in that sauce, wasn't there?"

"It is spaghetti sauce," Jessie said, lifting the bottle to squint at. After a moment she said, "Yeah, there is, why?"

I took another burning, shaky breath. "I-I'm allergic," I sputtered out, and I bolted for the bathroom.

"Oh my god!" Nick gasped as I slammed the door behind me and forced up and heaved everything I had just eaten into the toilet. I heard Nick outside, his hand covering his mouth, holding his stomach, worrying, but trying to hold down his own dinner.

I flushed the toilet and then panted in the bathroom for a minute on all fours, the burning inside of me better now that I wasn't trying to burn up the human food. But it was still bad; I would have to hunt tonight. Nick's smell flamed in my throat.

"Jeff?" He called, "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

"Give me a minute," I groaned, holding my stomach, happy the food was gone and trying to relax my throat so I didn't bite him.

"Can I come in?" he asked, and he didn't even wait for my response, he just opened the door and stepped inside. I hid my face in the shower rug, not wanting him to see me like this. "Come here," He spoke again, and he pulled me from the floor. I grabbed a tissue and made sure there was nothing on my face before he could see me, and I tossed the tissue in the trash. Nick pulled me up into his arms, cradling me to his chest. He carried me to his room, where he put me in his bed.

"No, Nick-"

He cut me off. "Jeff, don't argue. I should have asked if you were allergic, I should have-"

"Nick, it's not your fault-"

"Stop! Just let me help you. I feel guilty. So here..." he tucked the blanket up under my chin, and then he lay down in my bed instead of his. He was taking the place that would make his back sore, and my back couldn't get sore. Am I the only one who sees something wrong here?

"Nick..."

"You are not allowed to argue. I forbid it," he told me, turning off the light.

I laid there for a long time. As my hunt grew closer, I burned more and more, until I was unsure if I would be able to get up, because if I did I might go over to Nick.

But I managed to wait until he had been asleep for an hour, and then I got up and silently slipped out the window.

I found a man in a nearby alley who was stalking a young girl, and he was dead and dry before I even knew what I was doing. I calmed myself down, trying to not lose my head again. I didn't want anything really bad to happen.

Still unsure of how stable I was, I listened to the sounds of the city, and quickly found the man who was now grabbing onto the girl, and his hands were pulling on her shirt. She was crying, trying to scream for help, but she couldn't get his hand off of her mouth. I was in the alley behind him before a second had passed, and I grabbed him by the throat and dragged him to the ground. He released the girl, who collapsed in fear and tears, and I growled loudly in frustration. _The girl isn't running! I don't want to kill her too! _

I didn't realize that I had snapped the man's neck until I looked down and saw his cloudy eyes. I wanted to feed, I needed to feed, but the girl was still there!

The girl lifted her head, and, filled with venom and bloodlust; I bared my teeth and growled, hoping to scare her away. Instead her eyes widened to twice their size and she gasped, not in fear, but in surprise.

"Jeff?!"

**DUN DUN DUHHH! Can you guess who it is? Probably. **

**Thanks for reading, as always. Review pleeeease, Lovelies :3**

**-Nami **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey what's up I'm back from my trip to nowhere. Thanks for all the reviews guys, I love you people :3 **

**Enjoy! :D**

**I… uh, I'm sorry about this. It kinda had to happen. Don't hate me!**

**Chapter 6**

_Meghan?! _I thought, but I was still too lost in the man's blood to say anything.

"Jeff, it's me! Jeff, it's Meghan!" she reached her hand out to me, and I scrambled away on my hands and feet. She was going to get herself killed. _By me..._

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking hurt.

"Stay here," I forced out, and I grabbed the man by the shirt and dragged him away faster than she could see.

I finished him quickly, and left his body in pieces in the dumpster, and then I walked slowly back to Meghan, still quite unsatisfied.

"Why are you here?" I asked her, still kind of mad at her.

"I came looking for you," she responded.

"How did you know where I was?"

"I hacked your Skype, and called Nick." she responded simply. "He's cute, by the way." She said, and I blushed. "I spent my college fund and took a plane over." I glared at her. _Her college fund? For me?_ "I've been wandering since ten this morning trying to find you. You got to me just in time..." she shuddered. There was a short pause, and I didn't say anything. Then she realized something. "That guy, did you just..."

"What do you think?" I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets and looking down. "Why else would I have left?"

"I probably could have stomached it. Or I just wouldn't have watched," she responded quietly. I could tell she was trying to talk about it like it was normal, even though it was hard for her.

"Yeah, but I might not have been able to." I responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I would have killed you, too!" I snapped. She flinched, and I sighed. "Sorry. I just... I'm edgy. It feels like it's been forever since I hunted."

"Please, proceed."

"Where are you going to go?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I don't... Know." she whispered. "I ran away from mom."

I gasped, growling in anger and running up to get in her face. She gasped and fell to her butt. "How could you have left her?!" I shouted. "It's bad enough that she lost me! I'm sending you back tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow. I'm staying for at least one day." she stated. "I need to be sure you're okay here."

"Meghan, I'm a fucking vampire." she flinched at the word, but I kept going. "I think I'll be fine."

"Okay. But not tomorrow."

"Ugh, fine. The day after that."

"Okay. How will you get the money?"

In response, I pulled a wad of cash from my pocket, and handed it to her. "There's more in my pack. We're going to get you a hotel room for now, come on."

She must have been tired, she was walking slowly, so finally I just scooped her up and ran her to the nearest nice hotel. She hid her face in my chest, probably afraid of how blurry everything passing was, but we arrived quickly and I got her a room and sent her to it.

I finished hunting quickly, and then ran back to Nick's apartment. I was scaling the wall when I heard a scream. A scream that I've known all of my life. Meghan's scream.

I ran, but I wasn't fast enough. I got to them right as the man stabbed her in the chest, and I shot towards him, but suddenly two of my kind came out of nowhere and pinned me against the wall. The man finished attacking Meghan and then ran, I could hear his heartbeat. He was human.

The two vampires holding me down were burly, big, and dark haired. They must have been twins, either that or I was seeing double. But then they gave me a warning glare, released me, and ran off after the man.

"Meghan!" I gasped, falling to my knees beside her and lifting her up into my arms. There was so much blood... But seeing my sister like this snapped me out of it and I tried to stop the blood flow.

"It's... No use," she rasped, her hand catching mine. "I'm... Done for." she choked out.

"No, Meghan," I sobbed, hugging her to me. "You're going to be fine. Meghan you're going to be perfectly fine."

"Both... of us kn-know that's-s not... G-going t-t-to happen." she started to shiver, not helping her voice. Her eyes were drifting closed, and her heartbeat was slowing and slowing and slowing.

"Come on, Meghan. Live for me. Live for mom," I cried, not lifting my hands to wipe off my tears.

"I lo... Love y-you, J-j-j-eff." she whimpered.

"I love you too, Meghan. I love you, baby sister."

Her hand found mine, and she squeezed it once, then she went limp.

I cried into her limp shoulder as she began to smell more and more dead, getting colder and colder, and I couldn't move. My sister. My baby sister, who had admired me and played with me and laughed with me all of my life, just died in my arms. This was all my fault. If I hadn't come here, she wouldn't have followed and we'd still be fine at home. Or she would have, at least. I would still be screwed, of course. But my sister would be alive. And right now, that's what mattered.

I pushed myself up, cradling her small, broken form to my chest. Her head fell limply to the side, and some blood trickled from her mouth, but there was no room in my head to even think about being hungry.

I began to walk.

I walked all the way back to the apartment, all the way back to Nick, unsure of where else to go. I took the stairs one by one, slow, even for a human. While I unlocked the door, Nick seemed to notice something was wrong and suddenly gasped, waking up. "Jeff?" he looked around. "Jeff?!"

I couldn't respond, I stood in the doorway of the apartment, my arms still tight around my broken little girl. Another tear streaked down my cheek.

Nick burst out of his room and slammed his fist into the light-switch. The light flickered on, showing the situation to him. Me, crying, dirty, and holding a dead little girl. Dead. She was dead. It struck me again. Meghan was never coming back. Meghan would never laugh at one of my jokes again, she would never tease me again, she would never listen to Secondhand Serenade through her earbuds too loud again_. Oh god, what was I going to tell Mom..._

"Oh my god, Jeff!" Nick gasped, running over to me. "Is that that girl who Skyped me from your address? Is she okay? Oh my god is that blood?" he frantically sputtered out.

"It's my sister... And she's dead," I whispered, lying her down on the couch.

Nick gasped, coughed, turned away, and stood silent for a moment, his hand covering his mouth. His heart pounded unevenly. I couldn't tear my blurry, watery eyes off of her.

"Come on, Jeff, come here," Nick finally said, grabbing onto me and pulling me into his room. I followed, I was still in too much pain to do anything else. He sat me down on his bed. "What happened?"

"I heard her screaming on the street," I sobbed in a whisper, "and I ran out to help her because I know... _Knew_ that scream. And the man who stabbed her was long gone. But I couldn't save her." I was bewildered. _Why couldn't I have saved her?_ I wished that I was the one dead. Not her. I actually deserved to be dead. Not her. Not _Meghan_. Not my baby sister. Tears fell down my cheeks again, and Nick pulled me into a hug. I buried my face in his shoulder and shook with sobs. "Shhhhhhhhh, Jeff. Shh, it's okay. I'm here, I'm here for you," he whispered into my neck.

We sat there for a long time, and then he said, "I'll be right back."

He disappeared, and I didn't listen to where he went. I curled into a ball and buried my face in the pillow. When Nick returned, he pulled me up and laid down next to me, pulling me back down with him. I tucked my face into his chest and tried to hide the tears.

"It's okay, Jeff, let it out."

I allowed myself to cry, wishing that things could be different. It I wasn't cursed by this shitty life, Meghan would be alive; I would still be at home, oblivious and happy.

I cried for a long time into Nick's chest, and he just sat there and rubbed my back and murmured sympathetically.

When I was finally dry, with no more tears left to be shed, I coughed and rasped out, "I'm so sorry, Nick."

"Don't be! Oh god, Jeff, don't be sorry. It's not your fault at all." He said. "Come on, let's get you to sleep. I've still got school tomorrow."

"I have to call and tell my mom," I whispered.

"You can use my phone," he said, pulling his phone off the nightstand by the cord.

"No, it's okay, I'll call when you're at school." if I called from here they'd be able to track the number. I'd have to go out of state.

"Okay. Come on, Jeff, let's sleep."

He began to climb out of the bed, but I grabbed onto him. "Will you sleep next to me?" I whispered.

He grinned. "Sure," he murmured back, and then he snuggled down next to me. I laid my head on the pillow, and closed my eyes. His breath blew into my face, making me dizzy and lightheaded, but I embraced the burning. I would have to learn to live with it. There, wrapped in Nick's arms, I drifted, and fell asleep.

I dreamed of a world where death didn't exist.

**I'm sorry. So very frighteningly sorry. Hope you liked it, though! Leave me a review, lovelies! :D**

**-Nami**


	7. Chapter 7

**YO GUYS! Really super crazy long chapter. I don't know whether I should like apologize for that or what? Eh. Whatever. There's a lot of emotion and good and bad and amazing and depressing moments in this one. EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER! Sorry. **

**By the way, sorry I forgot to include this. RIP Cory. We'll always love any miss him. :'(**

**Enjoy the chapter! **

Chapter 7

I woke up to the gears turning again in Nick's alarm clock, and I sat there and waited for the sound. My senses were once again ambushed with crap, and I tried to clear my head.

The most overwhelming was Nick, just as always. His scent burned so badly in my throat that I thought must have bitten him in my sleep, but I hadn't. I was cuddled up to his chest, his shirt fisted in my hands, and his arms wrapped protectively around me. His face was calm, slack, and peaceful. I smiled and sighed. Before his alarm could go off I stretched up and kissed his cheek, and then snuggled back down and pretended to be asleep. The alarm clock went off, and he groaned and rolled over. I pretended not to wake up, and Nick leaned over and turned off the alarm, and then settled back next to me. He laid there for a moment, and then he ran his fingers through my hair. After what seemed like three hours but was probably only about two or three minutes, he leaned down placed a soft kiss on my cheek, dangerously close to the corner of my mouth. I tried to stay calm, looking like I was asleep, as he sighed and got up. When he disappeared from the room I frowned, mourning the loss of his warmth next to me. I heard him turn on the shower, and then I let my senses look for Meghan. She was no longer on the couch; instead she had been wrapped in a blanket and carried from the room. I followed the trail of Jessie scent carrying Meghan, and discovered she had been taken to the bottom of the building, where a car, most likely a police car, had taken both of them away.

When Nick finished in the shower, he came back into his room and sat down next to me. "Jeff, hey wake up."

"Huh..." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and pushing myself up.

"Come on, Jeff. You have to go to the police station."

My senses instantly went on overdrive. "Why?"

"You need to talk to them about Meghan. Don't look so scared, Jeff, they just want to know what happened."

But I knew it was a big deal. There was probably a report of my name, and a picture of me in every police station from here to Madagascar. I could only hope that maybe this one didn't have the information yet.

When I was ready, we hailed a cab and drove in silence to the station. Jessie was there already, and then asked me a bunch of questions and stuff. I lied about my last name, which, luckily, Nick didn't know yet.

"Jeff Thompson." I lied easily, and they wrote down a bunch of stuff. Luckily they never wrote down my appearance.

"Can we have a number for your mom?"

"My mom... She passed away about a week ago," I whispered quietly. I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me, where Nick was sitting. But after a moment a heavy smell of confusion rolled off of him, but he managed to keep his expression from showing it. Right. Last night I mentioned having to call my mom. I was so annoyed with lying to Nick...

"And your father died when you were young?"

"Yes. I never knew him." I didn't have to lie for that one.

"Okay, thank you, Jeff." he said, and he let me go.

Nick managed to keep his questions until we got home. Jessie left for the store, and he sat me down on the couch.

"Who were you lying to? The cop? Or me?" he asked seriously.

"The cop," I said. "I couldn't have them call my mom..."

"Why not?"

"Because the fact that I'm in New York would be a surprise," I stated. _Shit! I have to cover! Damn it, Jeff, hold your tongue better. _

"Why?!" he gasped.

"She thought I went to Florida. I wanted to win a prize and bring back the money from the competition to help pay for the house." I lied smoothly. "I didn't want her to know."

"So you LIED to the COPS?" he gasped.

"She would be so angry with me." I whispered. "The lie just came out," I looked down.

"Jeff... There's something about you that you haven't told me."

"W-what are you talking about?" I stuttered.

"I can tell." he spoke with a certainty. "I know you, Jeff. And then things I don't know about you that I want to know. I care about you."

"I care about you too, Nick. Just... Just don't..." I couldn't look at him.

I could practically hear gears turning in his mind. When I finally looked up at him, he began to lean towards me, his eyes flashing to my lips again, and everything disappeared except him and me.

That's probably why I didn't notice them coming.

"TELEPHONE!" Blaine and Kurt hollered, bursting through the door, Blaine holding a cell phone.

Nick seemed to grow wings and he practically flew backwards over the back of the couch, landing with a thud on the floor behind it. I could have caught him, but I would have looked suspicious, so I had to listen to the painful sound of him colliding with the floor. Blaine and Kurt didn't seem to notice where we had been, they just saw him hit the floor.

"Whoa, you okay?" Kurt asked.

"I'm fine," Nick groaned, pushing himself off the floor.

"Sorry for bursting into your apartment at six in the morning, but Wes and David called. They want to talk to you... Both of you. Jeff first, I think."

"Okay," I held my hand out for the phone.

As soon as it touched my ear and I spoke my hello, Wes shouted, "You're staying with Nick?!"

"Sorry," I apologized.

"How come you didn't tell us?" David asked.

"I didn't know you guys knew them." I explained, and they made sounds of annoyance. "I'm sorry," I spoke again.

"Whatever, Jeff. At least we know you're safe," Wes said.

"Okay... You want to talk to Nick too?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

I handed him the phone, and Nick paced, getting ready for school, as I sat on the couch, while Blaine and Kurt chatted about school.

When Nick finally finished, Blaine and Kurt left to get their stuff, and we had about forty seconds alone.

"We can finish our conversation when I get home," he told me with heavy implications under his words, and I blushed. He laughed. "I meant that kind of seriously." he added.

I didn't have time to respond, for Blaine and Kurt came back, and they took him with them.

I was again alone, confused and sad. I didn't know if I wanted to kiss him. I didn't know what I could handle.

I sat for a long time, thinking about everything, ups and downs, pros and cons, of just everything in my life at the moment.

I decided against calling my mom. It would just be too difficult to tell her what had happened, and listen to her cry, and would I even say it was me? How could I tell her where I was? How could I put her through that? I felt awful, but I didn't know what else to do. I was still completely undecided on whether or not to get involved with Nick. I wanted to, so bad. I cared for him so deeply, but he deserved so much better. He deserved someone who wouldn't be consistently wanting to kill and devour him.

And I had decided what I was going to do to get away from the police.

I was going to fake my own death. It was the only way, because without doing so I would have to be hiding for the rest of this lifetime.

Nick's lifetime. Because that was really mostly the only thing that mattered anymore.

That, there was the problem, though. Nick. I needed to somehow tell him that it was going to be alright, that I wasn't really dying? But how?

I worried about it all day. Finally at lunchtime I just couldn't stay in the apartment anymore, and I ran to find Nick.

He had gone out to lunch with his friends, and they were at a Taco Bell down the street from the school. I found myself inside before I knew what was happening. Thad noticed me first. "Jeff?"

"Oh, hi!" I said, faking cheerful, and the rest of them saw me. Nick's face brightened.

"Hey, Jeff! Come over here!" he laughed.

"Actually..." I said before I could stop myself, "Can I talk to you outside?"

His eyebrows furrowed, but he followed me anyways. He shifted in front of me, able to feel the tension rolling off of me. "What's wrong?"

"Nick... I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," he said a little too quickly.

I chuckled. "Can you meet me on the roof of your building at midnight tonight?" I needed to tell him then, tell him that I wasn't dead.

"Where are you going?" his eyebrows furrowed as sadness settled into his expression.

"I'm... Going away for a while. But I'll explain everything tonight."

"Okay..." he said, unsure.

"And don't believe anything you hear," I added quickly. I didn't want him to hear that I was dead and then not meet me on the building.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I promise I'll explain tonight!" I called, heading off. I had a bus to catch.

He looked confused, but went back into the Taco Bell. As I walked, I allowed my senses to follow my bus, and I tried to figure out just how to do this.

I finally found a somewhat empty street, and I didn't put my senses back into my body. I would have to hold on too tight, and then it would hurt the bus and look more unnatural than I wanted it to.

I closed my eyes, and listened to the bus turn onto the street. As it barreled towards me, I took a couple deep breaths. I needed to make this look like a real suicide. I let my body go loose, and dropped my senses back into it. They scrambled around, trying to figure stuff out, and before I could gather any information from around me, I stepped out in front of the bus. My senses were still confused, I couldn't see, couldn't smell, couldn't hear, and that's exactly what it was going to be like when the bus hit me.

But something suddenly yanked me off to the side, and the bus, honking, barreled past. My senses came back, and I realized what had happened.

My chance was gone.

But why...?

"Jeff-!" Nick sobbed next to me. "What were you _doing_?" He yanked me further off the road, up onto the sidewalk, tripping and almost taking us both down.

Oh. _Well, shit_. He caught me trying to kill myself. I must not have noticed him because I had my senses scrambled. "Nick-"

"How could you even think of trying to do that? Jeff, _why_ would you try to kill yourself?"

"Nick I-"

"Jeff, don't try to argue, I saw exactly what you did! You stepped in front of that bus on purpose." He shook me, his hands on my arms, his wrist brace scratching me.

"I-"

"Stay alive! You have so much left to live for, Jeff." he sobbed, tears falling down his face. Did I really matter this much to him?

"But-"

"Live for the memory of your sister. Live for your mom." He wasn't letting me get a word in, at all.

"Nick!"

"Live for Wes and David! Live for Kurt and Blaine, and Trent and Thad and Sebastian..."

"Don't-"

"Live for me, Jeff. Live for me. Please," he whisper-cried.

I took a breath to speak, but he threw his arms around my neck and crushed his lips to mine.

I was frozen. His eyes were closed, his eyebrows low, determined, tears still on his face. My throat burned so bad, but it was totally worth it. My hands wrapped around his waist, pulling him flush against me, closing my eyes and leaning into the moment. His lips moved against mine, and I felt my stomach mosh pit, but I couldn't stop kissing him. His hands tightened against my back, trying to pull me closer. I was getting carried away, and I decided to draw the line when his tongue traced my bottom lip.

I pulled away, and he opened his teary eyes, and then he grinned and hugged me tight, tucking his face into my neck, tears falling again. "Oh Jeff," he whispered.

"I feel like I've known you all of my life." I told him, trying not to hug him as tight as I wanted to. I didn't want to hurt him. I have no idea how I didn't bite him.

He pulled away and grabbed my hand, "Let's walk."

We walked in silence for a while before he said, "I just want to know why."

"Nick..."

"Is it something because of me?" he turned towards me, his eyes watering again. I wiped his face a bit. I didn't want him crying because of me.

"No, Nick, it's not you at all."

"Is it because of your sister? What about your mom?"

"Nick..."

I hesitated. _Do I tell him? Do I not tell him? What do I do?! _

He waited.

My senses widened just as they had when I was sitting with Wes and David what felt like ages ago, and almost instantly I noticed the man. He was standing so still I thought for a moment he was a vampire, but then I heard his heart and breathing. It took me a moment, but I finally pinpointed and recognized his smell.

It was the man who killed Meghan.

My senses snapped altogether towards the man, and rage filled my system. My venom released, and I tried to swallow it, but everything in my mind wanted it filling the man's blood, and I had so much difficulty.

"Nick," I forced out through clenched teeth, making each word deliberate, careful not to lose it with him this close, "You should go back to your friends."

Nick was taken aback. "What?"

"Nick I don't want to hurt you. Please leave. I'll find you later."

"Jeff-"

"Nick!" I snapped, growling. My head whipped towards him, and he could see the hatred blown out of proportion in my pupils.

He jumped. "What's wrong?" he reached out a hand to touch me, but right at that moment the man charged, heading straight for Nick.

"No!" I shouted, fear, fear for Nick, igniting in my stomach, and I grabbed Nick and pulled him behind me. He cried out in surprise.

The man approached, producing a knife from his pocket, a half snarl on his face. Nick noticed him and I heard his sharp intake of breath as he realized why I was acting like this.

"What do you want?" I growled at the man.

"Him," he gestured towards Nick with his knife.

Nick huddled a bit closer to me.

"Why?" I snarled, my arms subconsciously spreading a bit to protect Nick. Everything in my mind screamed for me to kill the man to protect this boy.

"You don't defy them."

"What the_ fuck_ are you talking about?"

"The twins."

A picture instantly snapped to my mind, the two vampires who had held me down while the man cut up Meghan.

The man continued. "Let's just say... The three of us are... Working partners." he haphazardly waved the knife around in the air.

I could smell the confusion rolling off of Nick, and I took a shaky breath. What did the man have planned for the boy behind me? The boy who had become the fixation point of my life?

The man nonchalantly glanced around, and then he charged me.

I kicked him out of the way, and he tumbled back. Nick gasped. "Jeff, what are you doing?! You're going to get hurt!" his hands tugged on my shirt.

"It's okay," I said to him. "I'll be fine. I promise."

Nick looked confused, but the man rushed again, and I grabbed onto his arms. "Back off!" I hollered, and he groaned.

"Now!" he screamed, and he shoved away from me.

_What? _

That's when the twins slammed into me, taking me to the ground. Nick screamed my name, and the twins struggled to hold me down.

The man ran at Nick, and I struggled harder, but the twins pinned me to the ground, sitting on my back and holding my arms. The first one grabbed my hair and yanked my head up so I had to look at nick.

The man grabbed onto his arm and thrust the knife at him, but Nick dodged and sent his foot flying into the man's side.

_Right!_ Nick was a jock; he actually had a chance against this man. I silently rooted for him, for I couldn't actually speak, because the angle at which my head was being pulled up was cutting off my windpipe.

The man coughed and released Nick, who backed off a bit, tugging on his wrist brace and looking helplessly over at me, only to notice how badly they had me pinned. "Jeff-" he choked out, but the man recovered and approached him again.

I watched in horror as the man quickly darted to the side, catching Nick by surprise and catching him in the side with the knife.

Nick cried out and fell back, and the smell of his blood filled the air.

Suddenly I was glad for the presence of the twins on top of me, because every cell in my body ached to run over and drink the blood that was now dripping down his side. I wanted it more than i wanted anything, and I _was going to get it_. Nothing was going to stop me. Nothing was going to get in my way, and I was finally going to get to taste that sweet blood. The very very small rational part of me left tried to fight against the monster with all of its strength, but it was no match for the beast mixed with the intoxicating smell of his blood.

The twins shifted half an inch and the angry, thirsty, irrational monster inside of me was enough to throw them off and make a mad dash for Nick.

"Stop him!"

The first twin had his arms wrapped around me before could get to the bleeding boy, and Nick looked terrified. "Jeff? What's wrong?" he groaned, pushing himself up, which just caused more blood to flow down his side. I struggled harder, but I couldn't get free.

The second twin spoke. "I want him to be in extreme pain." I wasn't sure if they were talking about me or Nick, and he said, "And then we'll let him go to attack him."

I guess it was both. A part of me couldn't wait until he let me go so I could finally taste that sweet blood. My venom released and overflowed my mouth. I uncomfortably swallowed it.

Wait. What am I DOING? This was Nick! _Nick!_ Not some stupid victim. Not some damn mass murderer or some creeper. Nick didn't deserve to be fed on. I let the smell fill me, burn in my throat and in my mind and in my stomach and my head. I needed to be used to his smell, used to this pain, because I needed Nick. I needed him emotionally. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I killed him.

I thought fast, because I couldn't relax against the grip of the vampire behind me, otherwise they'd know something was wrong. I continued to struggle.

The man with the knife approached Nick again, and he brought the knife down towards him, but Nick tossed his hand up, and the piece of metal caught the wrist brace. Nick kicked the man in the nuts, and the man dropped like a ton of bricks. Nick quickly grabbed the knife and drove it into the man's hand. His cry of pain filled the air, but the second twin walked over and shoved Nick down.

"_No!_ Nick-" My mouth was covered as the man behind me grew more agitated.

The vampire towering over the whimpering boy took his time. Every second pained me, and I needed to get him away from here, I needed to help him. They were going to kill him. I bit down on the hand of the twin in front of me, but he just slammed his head into the back of mine, and I let go, crying out.

The twin cut Nick up really bad with the knife. I began to cry as Nick did, trying, and failing, to hold all of his injuries at once. A cut on each side. A cut down each arm. Several cuts on each leg. On his chest, too, and Nick struggled and squirmed and cried as he tried to get away, but he couldn't. Every noise that he made was a dagger in my heart.

The twin with the knife turned towards me and saw the tears, the pain, the longing, the need in my eyes, and he smiled sadistically. "Bruce, let go of him."

"No-" I choked out, but the twin behind me, Bruce, released me, and I found myself instantly by Nick's side.

He was a mess. He whimpered in pain, and he moved as if he didn't know what to do with himself.

"Jeff..." He whispered, his jaw chattering. "W-what are you doing?

I realized that I was leaning towards him, my venom releasing, that I was going to bite him, and I bit down on my tongue, holding myself back. "Don't worry, Nick. You're going to be okay."

I looked up to see the twins disappearing down the street with a look of satisfaction; they thought I was going to bite him. The man hadn't realized his partners had left him yet, and he was standing off to the side, holding the knife once more.

"You," I growled at him, and he instantly turned to his friends, who were gone. His eyes widened in despair.

"D-don't hurt me."

"You should have thought twice about hurting us, then!" I screamed, and then I launched myself at him, grabbing him by the shirt with both hands and slamming his back against the wall. The need for his death filled my body and fueled my actions, but as I had my hand around his throat, suspending him off the ground, I heard Nick whimper behind me, and I instantly released the man, realizing what I was about to do in front of Nick. I hadn't even taken that into account.

But it was too late. He had seen the strength, the speed, and now I had to tell him, or I would have to leave. I wasn't sure if I had had enough emotional strength to leave him.

The man scrambled up and ran away, and I watched him all the way down the street. Then I returned to Nick's side.

"Are you okay? Let's get you back to your apartment." I tried not to look him in the face as I pulled my jacket off and pulled it around him, zipping it up tight.

"W-what ARE you?" He forced out.

"I promise I'll explain everything later." I told him, and he seemed to be okay with that. I scooped him up, trying to ignore the blood, trying to ignore the pain, and I began towards his apartment. "Close your eyes, Nick," I whispered, and he obeyed, tucking his face into my chest. I took back alleys and ran, faster than a normal human would be able to, but not fast enough to be a blur. I would make Nick sick that way.

At some point on the run he passed out, and I worriedly ran faster. Soon enough we were back at the apartment, and I opened the door and laid him out on his bed. He stirred in his sleep, mumbling, "Jeffie..."

I chuckled and unzipped his jacket. My smile vanished, replaced instantly with clenched teeth of restraint. His shirt was stained red with blood, and I shivered, using all of my strength not to bite him. He was still bleeding, and I had his blood on my hands. My hands shook as I ran to get a towel, and was back in half a second, pressing it to his wounds. None of them were very deep, but he had a lot, too many. He had lost too much blood, and I wasn't sure when he was going to wake up. _IF_ he was going to wake up. My eyes teared up, and I moaned, "Nick... Stay with me Nick. Please don't leave me here alone."

When I had wrapped every cut up with gauze that I had found in the cabinet, (he ended up looking a lot like a mummy) I changed out of my clothes and put my clothes in the wash.

I had to remove his shirt and his pants as well, and although his pants, once washed thoroughly, would make it, his shirt was too cut up and messed up, and i had to throw it away. I pulled his pajamas onto him, buttoning them up over the bandages and making sure he was comfortable.

As I stood up and began to walk away, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down next to him. "Jeffie..." He whispered, his eyes still closed. He was okay. He was awake. He was going to be fine.

I chuckled and cuddled down next to him. He sighed, and his eyes opened. "Hi, Jeffie."

"Hi, Nickie." I joked, smiling.

He grinned a lopsided smile, and then leaned forward and hungrily pressed his lips against mine. I had to push all thoughts of thirst out of my head, and I fell into the kiss. His fingers found my waist and his arms snaked around me, pulling me up against him as he turned his head sideways to get closer. We broke apart for a half a second, and I whispered his name and planted my lips on his again.

After a bit we broke apart again, and he grinned, breathlessly laughing, his eyes still closed.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him, feeling awful. He had gotten hurt because of me.

"Better," he said, except I could tell that it was a lie. His toes tightened against the sheets.

"No you're not." I said. "I'm so sorry, Nick, it's all my fault-"

"Jeff, what are you talking about? It's not your fault at all, they had you pinned down. There was nothing you could have done."

"No, I put you in danger. I never should have come here," I said as I regretted ever even making the Skype call. Falling in love was not good for me. But knowing Nick was amazing. Was it worth it, though? Every second I spent with him put him in danger, today proved that. And the last thing I wanted was for anything to happen to my Nick.

_My Nick? _

Did I just think that? My Nick? Did I want him to be mine?

I did. Very much so.

"Jeff? What are you talking about?" He asked as I pushed myself up and turned away from him, putting my head in my hands and my feet on the floor. I heard him move closer. "Jeff, look at me."

I turned my head away, my eyes pricking with tears.

"Please don't cry, Jeff." He begged, and I rubbed my arm across my eyes.

"I'm not." I lied, my voice cracking. "Shit," I mumbled, wiping away the tear that was starting to fall with my opposite thumb.

"Jeff," Nick pushed himself up completely and moved to sit beside me. I still couldn't look at him, but then he said, "Jeffery," and I turned back to look at him.

He saw my watery eyes and said, "What's bugging you?"

"I... Haven't been entirely honest with you."

He looked at me for a moment. "What do you mean?" He said, his voice measured.

"I haven't told you exactly... Why I am... how I am." I can't do this. I can't do it.

"You mean..." He shifted uncomfortably. "You mean the thing you did with the man?"

"Yeah, I do." I said, my voice strangled. _This is so hard. I think I'm going to die. You can do this!_ I screamed in my head.

But what if he hates me? What if he decides I'm lying and kicks me out to the streets and never wants to see me again? What would I do then? Could I even go anywhere? Would I be physically incapable of leaving, and have to stay here for the rest of Nick's life, making sure he's okay and never finding the danger or anything? Or what if he believes me, and then is too afraid of me to stay anywhere near me? How could I even function if he hated me?

"Okay... are you going to tell me?"

"I'm trying." I managed a chuckle.

"Jeff," he put a hand on my back. "I can tell whatever this is, I can tell it's hard for you, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. I'm here for you no matter what."

"Really?" I couldn't believe that.

"Really truly." He kissed my cheek, smiling.

"I..." I stared at him. His eyes were so trusting... I felt like he trusted a different person. He didn't know me. He knew what I made up about myself. You can do _this_! "I..."

"Yeah?" He said softly, rubbing my back. I jumped off the bed. He was trusting a person he didn't know!

"I'm not what you think I am." I stumbled over my words. "I'm not... Human." I choked out. _Keep going! Go, Jeff! _But my words wouldn't come out. I froze up, as he looked up from his shoes, which he had been in the middle of pulling off.

He stared at me for a second. "What?" He laughed. "You're joking."

"No," I shut down his thought immediately. "Nick, I'm dead serious."

His smile faltered a bit, but he fought against the force that was getting rid of it. I hated the smile leaving, I hated the thought that this might be the last time I'd ever see it. "Come on, Jeff. Quit it."

"Think about it, Nick." I begged. "The speed? Strength?"

"How did those guys hold you down, then?" He shot back. His smile was long gone now. His face was bewildered and almost angry.

"Th-they were... The same as me." I stared into his eyes, drinking in his presence before he kicked me out. Because I could see it now. I could see the inevitable ending. Where this ended with two broken hearts because I'm a monster.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He looked away from me, looking at the floor, his eyes confused.

"The food, Nick?"

"Jeff-" Something changed in his eyes, something replaced the confusion.

"The thing with my mom?"

"Oh god-" I recognized the emotion in his eyes now, it was fear. He was terrified.

"My sister?"

"Stop it!" He shouted. It was silent for a moment and he stared at me. "Just tell me... What are you?" His eyes were watering up now.

"I... I can't..."

"Why not?" He cried. A tear streaked down his face.

"Nick, I don't like what I am. I hate it. I wish I was different. But I can't change it."

"Jeff... Why didn't you tell me before?" He whispered brokenly, his eyes full of tears.

"Because... Nick, I care about you. And if I told you, you would have run right away. I'm realizing now that I should have told you. You shouldn't be around me, today just proved that. I'm dangerous. I can't see you get hurt. I can't just stay here and put you in danger. I care about you too much, Nick."

He dropped his head into his hands and was quiet for a long time. "Jeff... Just tell me. What are you?"

"I'm... I'm a..." My voice got quieter and quieter, until I was only whispering. I dropped my head as he brought his up. "V-vampire."

It was quiet for a long long time. I listened to him breathe, listened to his heart pound, and I began to cry, but I didn't look up, didn't look at him.

Finally I had to speak. "I can't stay here," I blurted, and then I covered my face with my arm and hurried from the room.

"Jeff!" He scrambled off the bed.

I couldn't stop, but I couldn't force myself to run like a vampire, either. He caught up to me at the door, running up and crashing both hands into it, slamming the door back the four inches that I had gotten it open. He turned around and braced it shut with his back.

"Jeff, wait." he said, breathless. "How much did you lie to me about?"

His eyes were so broken, so wanting... I had been expecting this. Everything came pouring out.

"My name is Jeff Sterling. I ran away from home because my sister called the cops on me. I... I don't eat because I have to... T-to hunt every night. I don't actually have a sixth sense; I can just hear that far. Most of the boys in my pictures are metaphors for me."

He took a deep breath. It didn't seem like any of that took him by surprise, except the name thing. He wasn't expecting that. I hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Nick, I can't stay here."

He looked like he wanted me to go, but was also very reluctant to let me go.

"Will you come back?" He asked with hopeful eyes.

My heart soared. He didn't want me gone forever? "Yes," I promised a little too quickly.

"You don't have to leave..." He whispered.

"Nick..."

"I don't know what to do, Jeff." He blurted.

"What?" I asked, taken about.

"I care about you. A lot." He admitted.

"What about..."

"I knew you were different. I knew from the beginning. I just didn't know what exactly you were. And I didn't want to believe my instincts. But you're still Jeff. Unless you're lying about what you lied about?"

"I'm not." I promised. The lying hurt too much. I couldn't lie to him anymore.

"Okay. I'm going to trust you..."

"Thank you, Nick." I said quietly.

"But I really really care about you." He told me. "And I don't want to see you go."

"I think I l-" I cut myself off, realizing what I was about to say. I think I love you.

STOP.

I can't fall in love! That's not okay! I'm going to hurt him, put him in danger, cause him trouble... But it was too late. I fell hopelessly in love over Skype, just seeing him in person made it so much worse.

"What?" His voice was quiet.

"Oh, nothing, it doesn't matter." I said quickly.

"Jeff, what is it?" He asked. His wide innocent eyes stared at me. I couldn't dump this on him. I bit my lip.

"I think I need to go... For a run. I'll be back, though."

He looked sad. "If you need a break, go ahead. I'll be here." He promised with sadness in his tone. He hesitantly scooted closer and then stretched up on his toes, pressing his lips to my cheek for a very very short moment, and then pulling away. I didn't miss how his eyes flashed to my lips for a millisecond, but I knew exactly why he didn't kiss me.

He thought I had fangs. Of course. Who wouldn't?

I sighed and pulled him into a hug, pressing my cheek against his hair. I moved my head and kissed the top of his head, and then said, "I'll be back later."

"Don't worry, Jeff. I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you, Nick."

"Hope to see you soon," he said, emotions just under his voice, and I smiled softly.

"You will."

The door closed behind me.

**I… uh… yeah. **

**Sorry? Your welcome? **

**I don't know. **

_**Hey, I don't know you, and this is crazy, but I think I love you, so review me maybe? **_

**Wow that was so lame. I'll go.**

**Love you guys! :3**

**-Nami**


	8. Chapter 8

**SUP GUISE! I'm havin lots of fun with this story :3**

**Lots of explanation about my kind of vampires in this chapter so try to keep up ;)**

**Enjoy!**

_Chapter 8 _

I sat on the roof all day. It was quiet, it was calm, I could shed a few tears, and I could still hear Nick.

For a while he just sat on his bed and stared into space, but then he dropped his head into his hands and began to cry.

With every passing second of him crying I began to feel worse and worse, but I couldn't go down to him. It would just remind him that I was able to hear him, and it would bring everything up again. I didn't want him to be messed up about this. I wanted him to be happy. That's all I wanted.

I returned to his room when it got dark, and he opened the door for me when I knocked. His eyes were still red enough that I would have known that he had been crying, even if I hadn't heard him. I stepped forward and pulled him into a hug, and he tucked his face into my chest.

"I'm so sorry, Nick."

He shook his head. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. Come on, let's talk." He pulled away and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards his bedroom. He sat me down on his bed, and faced me. "I have a couple questions. Can you answer them?"

"I'll try." I told him, pulling my legs up to sit cross-legged. He stared at me for a long time, probably looking for things in me that particularly 'vampire-ish' in his mind. After a while he looked down at his hands.

"How long have you been...?" He was afraid to say it. Of course, I didn't blame him. He didn't look back at me.

"About a year." I responded quietly, trying not to frighten me.

"Okay. Was it your choice?" His eyes held me again, looking into me, searching, searching for answers that he was afraid to ask.

"No, not at all." I swallowed, the story coming back up into my mind, the pain and the anger and loss still seeming fresh.

"Who... changed you?" His mouth grimaced awkwardly around the word.

"A vampire by the name of David Karofsky." I snarled out his name, not looking at Nick. I remembered suddenly that he was there, and my eyes found him again. My voice softened again. "I... I knew him before he was a vampire."

"H-how did he change you?"

"I..."

I began to speak, and I allowed myself to fall into the familiar horrifying story while I did.

_It was late on New Years, my mom was out of town with my sister, and I was home alone. I had the house to myself for two weeks. It was the third day of my wonderful vacation, and I was walking home from a party with my old friend by the name of Jesse. We had been drinking a bit, it was my first time being drunk, and I was a bit crazy. _

_"Oh, Jeff, I left my camera back there. I'll catch up; you just keep walking, okay?" He told me, and, stupid, I let him go. Instead of waiting for him or anything, I wandered down the street alone, still hyped up (and quite drunk) after the party. I began to hum the song My Dark Side, and I shoved my hands in my pockets. _

_It was past midnight, the moon just a silver sliver in the sky, shining a very dim light over everything. I approached a spot with no street lights, but I just kept going, because I had never heard of anything creepy happening in my neighborhood, I was also pretty drunk, and I was at that age where I subconsciously decided that nothing could hurt me. I was almost home when a pair of hands grabbed my and effortlessly pulled me back behind a dumpster. _

_I laughed, managing, "Jesse, you creep!" _

_A voice spoke in my ear, low, and giving me shivers. "Sorry. I'm not Jesse."_

_I turned around, wondering who would grab me, wondering if I was hallucinating because I was drunk. I was surprised to recognize the person. _

_"I KNOW you!" I sputtered, surprised. I racked my alcohol ridden brain to try to come up with his name. "It's... Karofsky, right? David Karofsky." _

_He looked taken aback. "Jeff? Damn it. Why did it have to be you?" He groaned, his shoulders sagging. _

_"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling more comfortable now that I knew he recognized me. He wouldn't hurt me. Right?_

_"Sorry about this, Jeff. It wasn't supposed to be you. But I'm so hungry," his eyes burned, looking me up and down, "and you smell SO good." _

_"What the fuck?" I laughed. "What are you going on about? Are you high?"_

_He bared his teeth, grinning an excited, scary smile, and I stumbled backwards, away from him. That was so creepy. _

_"Jeff?!" Jesse hollered from the street. _

_Karofsky's gaze was torn from me, and, terrified of Karofsky, I screamed Jesse's name. That act was something I will regret for the rest of my existence. Karofsky, looking pissed, snapped his glare back to me. He growled loudly, but right then Jesse rounded the dumpster. _

_Jesse didn't even get to figure out what was happening. Karofsky slammed into him and smashed him into the wall, and I gasped and stumbled backwards onto my ass as Karofsky released my friend, who fell limply against the ground, his neck at an awkward angle, his eyes glazed, his body loose and very _very_ dead. _

_I was so frozen with terror and grief and confusion that I closed my eyes and began to cry. Karofsky used that time to remove Jesse's body; I have no idea what he did with him. But suddenly Karofsky dragged me from the ground by my hair, ignoring my cry of pain, growled into my face, yanked me forward and sunk his teeth into my neck. _

_The first bite was merely extremely painful. His teeth sliced into my neck, right above my collarbone, and it took my breath away. I couldn't scream. Karofsky began to feed on me, his form lowering over mine as he relaxed, the blood strengthening him and calming the fire in his throat, which I knew so well about later. He continued to drink my blood until I started to feel dizzy; my fighting and struggling stopping as I gave up, gave in to death, whispering a final quiet sobbing goodbye to my mom and sister. I was dying. This was it. This is where I was to die. _

_Everything was almost gone, a black blur, when someone screamed, "Karofsky!" And he instantly yanked away, giving the venom the time it needed to settle. The bite burned, and in a few moments it was beginning to burn through my neck and through my body. I never knew when or where Karofsky went, but when my eyes opened, he was gone. I screamed out in agony, the brutal pain a thousand times anything I had ever felt. Once, when I was younger, I had fallen from a tree and snapped a bone in my leg, which felt like getting hit by a bus. This was like falling out of the tree over and over and over. I would have taken the broken leg any day over this. I writhed, trying to get away from whatever was hurting me, but there was nothing there. I was sure that I was now dying a worse death, a horribly agonizing death that makes my toes curl just thinking about it. _

_I don't know how long I burned. It could have been two weeks; it could have only been three hours. I lost track of time during the burning. But when the pain finally ended, it was raining. I couldn't figure out what had happened, why my throat burned like I had eaten something super spicy, where I was, and why everything was so clear, so LOUD, so strong. I dragged myself to a puddle made by the rain, the ache in my throat unbearable. I plunged my head into the water, not caring about sanitation, and began taking gulps of the water, but I instantly felt sick, and it only made my throat ache, it did nothing to help. I crawled off to the side and threw up. _

_I ran home, running into a wall and taking it down on the way, crying, freaking out, wondering what the hell was happening. When I was almost home, a homeless man happened across my path, and I had killed him and was drinking his blood before I knew what I was doing. When I realized what was happening, I ran, ran away from everything, so afraid, wondering what could have happened to my life so fast. _

_I finally made it home somewhere around a week later, and I hid in my house until my mom and sister came home. _

_By the time they got home, I had begun to live my new life; I had begun to deal with my problems. My family knew I was different, but they never had the courage to ask what had happened. _

"And that's my story," I finished quietly, looking away from Nick, away from this boy who had had such an impact on my life.

"Oh, Jeff," he whispered, and then he pulled me into a hug, a few of his tears falling onto my shirt. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's not like I can change it." I stated. "I'm sorry that I'm like this, I'm sorry that it's hard for me to be near you, I'm sorry."

"Jeff, I know it's not your fault. It's just... Hard."

I couldn't respond, I just nodded, looking down.

He pulled away, sitting quite close to me, and he grabbed my hand, caressing it with his thumb and staring at it.

He seemed desperate to do away with the story, but he only seemed to have uncomfortable questions. "When d-do you have to... Hunt?" I could tell it was hard for him to say the word, to connect humans with prey.

"Before... Before I came here it was every third night. But now I can only get away with every other night." I answered quietly.

His eyes burned into me. "Why?"

"N-Nick... You..." I hesitated, afraid to scare him. "You smell so much different." I finally managed.

"Different from what?" He sounded so confused. He didn't understand.

"Everyone else." I couldn't look at him. I couldn't look him in the eye and tell him that this was some kind of sick Edward/Bella kind of fucking thing and that I might be responsible for his death at any moment.

His breath froze in his throat for a fraction of a second, but then he took a deep breath and continued with the questionnaire.

"Do you sleep?"

I chuckled. "You've been reading too much Twilight. Yes, I sleep. But I don't need to."

He nodded, swallowing hard. "In the sun... Do you sparkle? Do you burn?"

"Actually it just makes my thirst worse. I've never just sat in the sun to see what happens after a long time."

He nodded. "What... Special abilities do you have?"

"Besides the strength... And the speed... And all of my senses are much much better-"

"Like what?"

"I can hear Thad and Sebastian watching a movie. They're watching... Toy Story. And Thad just reached over and fixed Sebastian's hair. Blaine and Kurt are talking about a trip... I can hear..." I listened down through the building, and found something perfect. "I can hear a dog breathing while he sleeps on the first level. But most of the time I try to block it out so I can live as normally as possible."

His eyes were wide.

"And besides that stuff, I... I can remove myself from my body. I can put my senses somewhere else, somewhere where my normal senses can't reach. Like... The school, from here."

"From here?" His eyes bugged.

"Yeah," I laughed.

"Were you..." He blushed. "Were you listening when I was at school?"

"And watching," I mumbled. "I was afraid you had another boy."

He giggled. "That should be creepy, but I kind of like it. Protective."

I bit back a laugh. "It really should be creepy." I told him. He just smiled.

"Are there... Others of your kind? Do you have v-vampire friends, I mean."

"No, none of them are my friends. Most of them don't like me very much, I don't know why. There's a nice one here, named Ryder. He warned me about the twins."

"The twins? Those men that held you down while..." He trailed off.

"Yeah. Those ones." I mumbled, saving him from having to say it.

"Okay. Since... Vampires are real, what else is? Werewolves? What?"

I half smiled, looking down at his hand wrapped around mine. "Some of them are real. You'd be surprised which ones are myths and which aren't. And then, there are a couple that you have never heard of that are real."

"Give me some examples." He was hanging on my every word.

"Ummm... Fairies are real. Most of them are just able to turn invisible. The ones that aren't are often mistaken for hummingbirds. Werewolves are real, but there are very few of them left. There's one family still going strong, and they're slowly spreading again. Mostly they're down in Los Angeles. There's more... I've only met one, but there's still such a thing as a Mage. A magical being," I explained for him, "like a wizard. They can cast spells and they're supposed to be really dangerous. But there aren't very many left."

"Wow." He mumbled. He hardly hesitated, just fired off another question. "What does human food do to you?"

"It makes me thirstier, because my body has to burn it up inside of me."

He nodded. "But water?"

"Just makes me feel bloated. Sometimes it makes my throat burn a little more, but not a lot."

He nodded again. "Is there anything... Else I should know?"

I knew what I had to tell him. It was so hard. "I... I have a problem with my temper. If I get too angry... I-I'll black out, and the next thing I know I'm somewhere else, and I've left a wake of destruction. It's only ever happened once before... I'm really careful not to let it happen again. Waking up from that was the worst thing imaginable." I choked up, thinking of what I found...

"What did... What did you do?"

I cleared my throat several times. I couldn't get it out.

"Did you... kill someone important?" His voice was deathly quiet.

"Yes," I managed. The image of him... His lifeless face...

"Who? If you can't tell me, that's okay." He added quickly.

"He... He was my friend. His name was Puck," I sobbed, "and I found him with his neck snapped, bruised from my hands," I looked at my shaking hands, remembering the imprints, the damage left by my anger… "If I could have stopped I would have done anything to. I didn't mean to do it, it wasn't my fault, Nick, I didn't mean to-"

"Shhhhh," he whispered, pulling me into a hug, "It's okay, Jeff. It's going to be okay. It's not your fault, don't worry," he comforted me.

After a moment I sniffled and wiped my nose, pulling away. "Do you have any more questions?"

"I can't think of any of the others anymore... Oh right! Who have you told?"

"My sister figured it out right before I left... And I told Wes and David."

"That's it? Your mom doesn't know?"

"No, I never told anybody. I only told Wes and David because I was leaving."

He took a deep breath. "Jeff... I want you to stay."

"With you?" I quirked my mouth. I was afraid of him trusting me. I was afraid to be too involved.

"Yes." He said simply. "I... I really really like you, Jeff. I don't want you to go. You're still the same person that you were before."

I let that sit in my mind. He liked me? Still? Even though he knew I was a bloodsucking freak? "But... I mean... I'm not normal, Nick."

"You are absolutely not normal. You are extraordinary." He whispered, smiling, and he leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

I couldn't speak. He finally broke the silence. "I wanted to talk about the kissing thing."

"Okay." I responded, sighing. "I understand if you're uncomfortable kissing me, but just so you know, I don't have fangs."

"Oh!" His eyebrows shot high. "I wasn't kissing you because I thought you would be uncomfortable. I'm okay with it, but we should take it slow."

"Oh, absolutely. But... You're comfortable kissing a vampire?"

A grin spread across his face. "Only if it's you," he whispered, and then he leaned forward and planted his lips on mine.

I smiled against his mouth, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him closer.

Unfortunately, Blaine and Kurt picked that exact time to finish their conversation and leap up from the couch, running towards our room.

I pulled away, unsure if he wanted his friends to know yet. "What?" He asked when he saw the expression on my face.

My eyes flicked to the door, and two seconds later Blaine's fist rapped against it. Nick was taken aback. Probably still getting used to it.

"You should probably get that," I chuckled.

"Okay, but Jeff?"

"Yeah?"

"Can it just be normal again?"

I knew what he was talking about. Normal. I could do normal. But, if I wanted to be with him, didn't he have to be used to what I was? "Normal for me is vampire." I responded.

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I don't want you to suppress who you are. I just want things not to be... Tense. I'm okay with this, so don't be afraid of scaring me or something."

"Okay, Nick. If you're sure."

He smiled, quickly pressing his lips to mine. Blaine pounded again on the door sent him scurrying to answer it, and I followed more slowly, the shadow of his lips on mine.

As soon as the door was opened Blaine and Kurt had tackled Nick to the floor. They were laughing and Kurt was even kind of crying. The way they were acting, the way they were holding hands even as they shook Nick and jumped around, it made the smile fade from my face. With a pang in my chest, I realized that Puck would have loved these guys, but he would never get to meet them because of me, because I had killed him. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself-

Nick's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Oh my god! What's wrong with you? What do you want?!"

Blaine giggled and pushed himself off of Nick, just to grab his shoulders and shake him. "The competition company called back. Nick, we're going to Disneyland!"

**Kind of sad and stuff, I know. My bad. Soooorryy :/ Hope you enjoyed it though! **

**I love you guys! Review maybe :D**

**-Nami **


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